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1 Int'l J. Evidence & Proof 232 (1996-1997)
Male Rape Trauma Syndrome in the US Courts: People v Yates

handle is hein.journals/intjevp1 and id is 318 raw text is: k.jASE NOTE Male rape trauma syndrome in the US courts: People v Yates By Philip N.S. Rumney and Martin P. Morgan Taylor Lecturers in Law, De Montfort University Law School * hilst most states in the US define rape in gender-neutral language thus recognising 'male rape',' only limited attention has been -0 given to the subject within either the legal literature2 or within judicial opinions. As a result, the development of legal principles which take account of the experiences of male rape victims has been relatively slow. This is reflected in the decision of People v Yates 637 NYS 2d 625 (Sup. 1995) in which the Supreme Court of New York extended the concept of 'rape trauma syndrome' (RTS) to cover instances of male rape. This decision comes more than a decade after RTS was first recognised in cases involving female victims. The significance of this case lies not only in the fact that this was the first case in any state to recognise male rape trauma syndrome (MRTS), it is also significant because, since most states now define rape as a gender-neutral offence, this may further strengthen arguments for the admissibility of MRTS, particularly in those states which recognise the female equivalent.3 Indeed, Justice Felice Shea placed Yates in a wider context of legal reform by * De Montfort University Law School, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH. 1 Only six states do not have a gender-neutral forcible rape law: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi and New York. 2 Much of the legal literature has been concerned with the issue of prison rape, see, for example: Siegal, 'Rape in Prison and AIDS: A Challenge for the Eighth Amendment Framework of Wilson v Seiter' (1992) 44 Stan LR 1541. 3 For an analysis of the case law relating to the admissibility of rape trauma syndrome and related research, see Frazier and Borgida, 'Rape Trauma Syndrome: A Review of Case Law and Psychological Research' (1992) 16 Law & Hum Behav 293. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE & PROOF

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