TW for marital rapeLawmaker apologizes for comments on spousal rape “A Utah lawmaker apologize

TW for marital rapeLawmaker apologizes for comments on spousal rape “A Utah lawmaker apologized Wednesday for questioning whether a man who has sex with his unconscious spouse should be charged with rape.Republican state Rep. Brian Greene said in a statement he supports a bill to make it clear that an unconscious person can’t consent to sex but was worried about unintended consequences of the measure."I’m sorry for any unintended pain that my statements have caused,” he said. “I abhor sexual assault under any circumstances, including within marriage.”On Tuesday, Greene rocked victims’ advocates with his discussion of consent during debate on the bill.“If an individual has sex with their wife while she is unconscious … a prosecutor could then charge that spouse with rape, theoretically,” Greene said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. “That makes sense in a first-date scenario, but to me, not where people have a history of years of sexual activity.”In his statement, Greene said his comments had been taken out of context and “have allowed my intentions to be misinterpreted." He said he was attempting to "clarify the issue” of removing consent from Utah rape law. He noted he had voted for the bill as it passed unanimously out of committee.“I strongly support closing any loopholes that allow offenders to evade prosecution, and I believe this bill does that,” Greene said.Holly Mullen, director of the Rape Recovery Center, told USA TODAY she had not expected a debate.“I was shocked,” Mullen said. “He’s a lawyer, you think he would know better. He just went off on a tangent. But with the kind of work we do, we realize that so many people don’t understand this issue.”Read the full piece hereOriginal story: Utah Republican wonders if it’s OK to rape an unconscious woman as long as that unconscious woman is your wife -- source link

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