Given the many emotional and psychological effects that victims of rape and sexual assault can experience, proving rape resistance is no longer material in court.
Thus, said the Supreme Court in affirming a Court of Appeals decision to convict a man accused of rape.
“A rape victim has no burden to prove that she did all within her power to resist the force and intimidation employed upon her. Resistance is not an element of rape,” the SC said in a resolution dated 3 August 2022.
It added, “What is essential is simply that the force employed was sufficient to enable the offender to consummate the lewd purpose which he had in mind.”
In rejecting the appeal of a man convicted of raping his teenage niece, the SC said “resistance is not an element of rape.”
The SC First Division upheld the conviction of the accused, identity withheld, with modifications on the damages and fines he was ordered to pay the victim.
The accused was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced to a penalty of reclusion perpetua or 40 years imprisonment, and ordered to pay the complainant P75,000 as civil indemnity, P75,000 as moral damages, and P75,000 as exemplary damages.
He was also convicted in the acts of lasciviousness case, and sentenced to imprisonment from 12 years to 20 years.
The court also ordered the accused to pay the complainant the amount of P50,000 as civil indemnity, P50,000 as moral damages, and P50,000 as exemplary damages, and a P15,000 fine.
“All damages awarded shall earn interest of six percent per annum from the date of finality of this Resolution until fully paid,” the SC ruling added.
It added: “It is a well-settled ruled that ‘the force used in the commission of rape need not be overpowering or absolutely irresistible.”