Here we go again!

Rape law is in the news again - indeed it's like the proverbial bad penny in that it keeps turning up. Much of the problem I feel is down to the fact that we seem to be seeking a "one size fits all" solution to what is anything but a one-size problem. The spectrum of rape stretches from what is in effect a particularly nasty and intimate variety of assault or grievous bodily harm at one end, to what may be no more than genuine confusion or misunderstanding at the other - and all points in between. Perhaps we could borrow the American idea of "degrees", and divide the offence into First Degree Rape, where physical violence, threat or coercion is used, and Second Degree Rape where the only question is one of consent, and treat them as separate offences, and maybe handle the latter in something more akin to a family court set-up. with anonymity for both parties.