Use of Force Law

[jks9199]

By sexual assault I mean if somebody touches you in a way they're not supposed to. That might sound quite broad but to put it in simple terms, if somebody touches or tries to touch you on any part of your body that's covered by the bathing suit, without your consent.

You know, I reviewed this thread. The underlying issue has been covered several times throughout.

It's not as simple as "he touched me there, so I can use lethal force." It's not going to be, no matter how much you think it should be. You'll find various phrasings of this throughout this thread (and several other threads on self defense): You may use ONLY the force reasonably necessary to safely resolve the situation. Reasonable is a common-sense interpretation -- if a normal person of ordinary intelligence and sensibility would feel that it is sensible. Use too much force, and you face likely criminal and civil consequences. Don't use enough, and you won't escape. Strike the balance, and be ready to deal with the legal consequences anyway.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Geez Gerry, why'd ya go and do that?

I’m like that.

 

[PhotonGuy]

You know, I reviewed this thread. The underlying issue has been covered several times throughout.

It's not as simple as "he touched me there, so I can use lethal force." It's not going to be, no matter how much you think it should be. You'll find various phrasings of this throughout this thread (and several other threads on self defense): You may use ONLY the force reasonably necessary to safely resolve the situation. Reasonable is a common-sense interpretation -- if a normal person of ordinary intelligence and sensibility would feel that it is sensible. Use too much force, and you face likely criminal and civil consequences. Don't use enough, and you won't escape. Strike the balance, and be ready to deal with the legal consequences anyway.

This issue might've been covered throughout this thread but I don't think the issue of sexual assault has been, at least not in this thread. To the best of my knowledge sexual assault legally falls under the category of "grave bodily harm" or at least rape does. As for, "he touched me there, so I can use lethal force," I never said I would take that approach. I might hit him but I wouldn't pull out a gun and shoot him as that would be lethal force.

As for using the force that's reasonably necessary to resolve the situation, if somebody used their bare hands I would use my bare hands. Also, I wouldn't continue to use force against an assailant that I've already neutralized. Continuing to beat on somebody who is no longer a threat is not self defense so as such I would not do that. Hitting an assailant once and stopping them is self defense, as long as you don't continue to beat on them after you've stopped them.

 

[Steve]

This issue might've been covered throughout this thread but I don't think the issue of sexual assault has been, at least not in this thread. To the best of my knowledge sexual assault legally falls under the category of "grave bodily harm" or at least rape does. As for, "he touched me there, so I can use lethal force," I never said I would take that approach. I might hit him but I wouldn't pull out a gun and shoot him as that would be lethal force.

As for using the force that's reasonably necessary to resolve the situation, if somebody used their bare hands I would use my bare hands. Also, I wouldn't continue to use force against an assailant that I've already neutralized. Continuing to beat on somebody who is no longer a threat is not self defense so as such I would not do that. Hitting an assailant once and stopping them is self defense, as long as you don't continue to beat on them after you've stopped them.

Just to clarify my comment from earlier, as you and @jks9199 have highlighted, it's a complicated topic and is why so many people (mostly women) continue to be sexually assaulted, and why so many people (mostly men) continue to get away with it. And in the USA, we are backsliding in this area.

I, for one, would be very interested in hearing more about how the instructors on this forum train women to react to sexual assault and evaluate the appropriate level of force to use in various situations. Some examples: How would you train a teenager to respond to date rape situations or assault from an older family member (e.g., cousin, uncle, brother)? How would you teach a person to respond to an attempted rape?

And in any given situation, since this is a quasi-legal discussion, in addition to mitigating physical risk, what sorts of things would folks recommend to victims so that they can minimize their own legal liability while ensuring that the assaulters are held accountable?

I haven't reviewed the thread since it has been resurrected, so if it's already been covered, wonderful.