Mary,
I am not sure what your reasoning for distinguishing “sexual assault” and “rape” is. Keep in mind that we are talking the United States, so its mores are operational. I can say that informally, it is called ‘rape’ over here whether there is penetration or not as well as whether there is opportunity to resist or not. At least, that is my impression from a number of sensitivity seminars as well as campus alerts when I was in college.
Let me be clear about what I believe:
Girl gets drunk and sober man has sex w/ her == rape
Man gets girl drunk to take advantage of her even if he drank == rape
Man and girl get drunk and get together != rape
The same goes for the opposite.
Now I would say that I could accept that any charges would be slightly less (not going for specifics, just not greatly less nor the same) for woman on man rape as there would be less physical damage. And, yes I think a pregnant woman bouncing on your groin area for who knows how long is going to leave a mark.
Minor point – I don’t see the second episode as being necessarily different as the act was already in comission when he woke up. The fact that blackmail was brought up at that point does not transmute the situation. If the situation was reversed and the man instead of blackmailing, stole a purse, that doesn’t make the situation one of theft, does it? Regardless, blackmail is a form of coersion and power does not necessarily have to come at the end of a fist.
