About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

98 Geo. L.J. 827 (2009-2010)
Giving Birth to a Rapist's Child: A Discussion and Analysis of the Limited Legal Protections Afforded to Women Who become Mothers through Rape

handle is hein.journals/glj98 and id is 833 raw text is: Giving Birth to a Rapist's Child: A Discussion and Analysis of the Limited Legal Protections Afforded to Women Who Become Mothers Through Rape SHAUNA R. PREwrrr* Approximately 25,000 women become pregnant through rape each year In response, many states have passed special laws, devised streamlined proce- dures, or both, to aid pregnant women who seek abortions or wish to place their rape-conceived children for adoption. However, few states have passed laws to aid the large numbers of raped women who choose to raise their rape-conceived children. Without such laws, in most states, a man who fathers through rape has the same custody and visitation privileges to that child as does any other father of a child. Moreover, as a result of this legal void, raped women and their children are left to face substantial and poten- tially terrible consequences. This Note argues that the absence of these laws stems from the societal images and other rhetoric concerning the pregnant raped woman that depict raped women as hating their unborn children and viewing their rape pregnancies as continuing their rape experience. These societal constructions have created a biased prototype of the pregnant raped woman and of the prototypical rape pregnancy experience by which all pregnant raped women are judged Women who raise their rape-conceived children depart from the prototype and are, as a result, viewed with suspicion. Legal protections, such as alternate custody rights, are then denied to them because, being viewed as imposter rape victims, it is thought that there is nothing special about these women or their conceptions requiring any change in the manner in which custody and visitation determinations are made. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .......................................... 828 I. WOMEN WHO CHOOSE To RAISE THEIR RAPE-CONCEIVED CHILDREN: A LIFETIME TETHERED TO THEIR RAPISTS ........................ 831 II. THE EFFECT OF RHETORIC ON LIMITING LEGAL PROTECTIONS ...... 836 * Georgetown Law, J.D. 2009; University of Chicago, A.B. 2004. © 2010, Shauna R. Prewitt. I would like to thank Professor Jane H. Aiken for her tireless hours of feedback on this Note and for her stimulating seminar on motherhood and criminality in which earlier versions of this Note were developed. This Note is inspired by and dedicated to Isabella, who has always been worth it.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most