On Air: If you lie for sex, are you guilty of rape?
| 10:27 UK time, Thursday, 22 July 2010
An Israeli man has been found guilty of "rape by deception" after telling a woman he was Jewish - when in fact he was an Arab.
30-year-old Sabbar Kusher was sentenced to 18 months by an Israeli court - a verdict he has described as "racist."
The sex was entirely consensual - that is not disputed.
But the judge, Zvi Segal, wrote:
"If she had not thought the accused was a Jewish bachelor interested in a serious relationship, she would not have co-operated. The court is obliged to protect the public interest from sophisticated, smooth-tongued criminals who can deceive innocent victims at an unbearable price - the sanctity of their bodies and souls."
Kusher has said he did not lie, and that the woman misinterpreted his nickname of "Dudu" as a shortened version of the Jewish name David.
And he argued even if he had lied, he should not have had to stand trial:
"If I told the woman I was a pilot and later she finds out that I was not a pilot, then she goes and says that 'He raped me'? If I told her that I was a millionaire and it turns out that I am a poor man, then she goes and says that 'He raped me'?"
As put it:
"Man lied to get a woman into bed. In other news, the sky is blue."
A similar law has been .
There, it was argued that the law did not protect victims who had been intentionally deceived into having sex, without force or violence.
Representative Peter Koutoujian at the time said:
"There is a myth that rape only happens in a dark alley by a stranger - this is not true. The intent of the crime is the same, and so the punishment should be the same."
What do you think?
