Notes on Baber:
The title of the paper is "How bad is Rape?" We would expect this to be seen as a rhetorical question, the answer being something on the order of "just about the worst thing that can happen to a person". It is not, however, a rhetorical question for Baber, who is convinced that there are things that happen to a people all the time which are much worse than rape. Many of these things are not even seen by our society as criminal acts. Do not be mistaken; Baber does think that rape is very bad, seriously wrong, in fact.

The initial focus of Baber's remarks is the concept of welfare interests. Whereas the sorts of work women are forced to do outside the home violate their welfare interests, rape, Baber says, does not usually do so. This, of course, is highly controversial. (Baber does say that the conditioned of being raped "has a tendency to generate other harms -- anxiety, feeling of degredation, and other psychological states which may interfere with the victim's pursuit of other projects."(p.244) This comment makes it difficult to understand how being raped would not, in almost every case, violate the victim's welfare interests, since one of one's welfare interests is one's psychological (not just physical) well-being.

Another claim Baber makes is that rape is a crime of violence. This is a major theme in some feminist writings. For too long has rape been seen as a crime of sexuality rather than as a crime of violence, with power as the primary motivation on the part of the rapist. In this vein there is an interesting comparison with being mugged, where Baber points out that the victim of a mugging is not asked to produce character witnesses attesting to her/his honesty, etc. But, rape victims are often asked to do so. Baber sees this as treating the victim of rape differently from the victim of a mugging. This implies, for Baber, that rape is not taken as seriously as are other crimes.

Baber define's harm as follows: "to thwart, set back or otherwise interfere with [a person's] interests". (p. 244) On the very next page, Baber makes the following claim, "Even if it (rape) did not hurt the victim physically or psychologically or tend to bring about any further harms it would still be a harm in and of itself." There is a problem here, to wit, that the definition Baber offers for 'harm' has to do with the consequences a person would tend to suffer as a result of the action, but then Baber seems to say that harm can be done when there are no negative consequences of an action. The problematic claims are:

• Harm has to do with negative consequences
• Rape is harmful even without negative consequences

Letting this apparent inconsistency pass, we can catch a glimpse of what Baber's main point is here. Rape ought to be viewed as a crime just like other crimes, as harming the victim, without the need for the victim to produce evidence beyond that which victims of crimes such as assault, robbery, theft, and slander are obliged to produce.

Some harms, of course, are more serious than others. If one loses a weeks wages as a result of theft, this is bad (unless of course one is independently wealthy). However, if one lost the ability to earn wages altogether, then surely this would constitute a more serious harm. Baber compares four cases of harm, claiming that each is worse than rape.

• A young person, whose future is positive, is killed.
• A person is severely maimed or crippled.
• A person is rendered destitute of food, clothing and shelter.
• A person is enslaved.

The section of Baber's paper entitled "Working Is Worse Than Being Raped" almost seems designed to raise one's ire. Here are some of the points she makes:

• People work a great deal over a long period of time
• For some people, work contributes to their well-being
• For some people, work negatively effects their well-being by being dull, routine, regimented, providing no satisfactions, and preventing them from taking on other sorts of projects which would contribute to their well-being
• Women, much more than men, are in the latter category

Baber says, "I suggest however that anyone, whether male or female, who spends a good deal of time at such work is in a more seriously harmed state than one who is raped." (p. 252) The primary reason for Baber's point is that these sorts of jobs are very, very long lasting and are themselves degrading because they take away a person's freedom to pursue other projects to such a great extent. The freedom the rape victim loses is relatively small compared to the freedom lost by a 10-hour per day, 30-year worker on an assembly line.

At this point it would be well to reiterate a point. Baber does believe that rape is a very bad crime. She simply doesn't believe that it is the worst thing (or even close) that can happen to a person.

Assignment: Identify Baber's central argument on why certain sorts of work are worse than being raped. Assess this argument. That is, do you accept it or not? Explain your answer. Include in your discussion reference to welfare interests, the concept of harm, and freedom.