Harsh Punishment Research Articles

Too similar or too different: Effect of acculturation strategies on judgments of a violent act committed by a Vietnamese offender

In the literature, several studies have shown that the perpetrator’s ethnic origin and acculturation strategy are particularly influential extrajudicial factors, but authors have focused on highly stigmatized groups. The aim of this study was to examine how the participants’ judgments were influenced by the acculturation strategy of a Vietnamese aggressor (member of a valued minority group in France), the consequences of the act for the victim, and their level of SDO. It was expected that assimilation, which reflects a strong similarity with the majority group, or separation, reflecting strong dissimilarity, would lead to negative judgments of the assault and its perpetrator and a harsher punishment. After reading a scenario describing a physical assault committed by a Vietnamese man, in which the perpetrator’s acculturation strategy and the consequences of the act were manipulated, 196 French students completed a questionnaire.The results confirm our hypothesis. Moreover, they show that when there were serious consequences for the victim, the act was considered to be more serious if the offender had not adopted French culture. However, when the consequences were minor, the act was considered to be more serious and a harsher punishment was recommended if the offender had adopted French culture. We explain how acculturation strategy is an important factor when judging transgressions, and how being too similar or too different to the majority group can increase the perceived threat. The status of SDO is discussed.

Enforce taxes, but cautiously: societal implications of the slippery slope framework

The general public often demands more frequent audits and harsher penalties to discourage tax evasion. This paper explores how deterrence via better-equipped tax agencies interrelates with the motivation to voluntarily pay taxes, and how both factors jointly influence tax evasion. For a panel of up to 25 European countries, this paper studies aggregate implications of the Slippery Slope hypothesis of tax compliance, and contributes to the literature on the societal dimension of tax evasion. The results suggest that both higher trust in authorities and increased deterrence efforts are positively associated with tax compliance. Trust and deterrence interact and depend on each other: if trust in authorities is low, an increase in tax enforcement works best for narrowing the tax gap (and vice versa). Generally, the positive influence of trust diminishes with increasing deterrence.

Effect of cybercrime laws on protecting citizens and businesses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which cybercrime laws protect citizens and businesses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Pertinent questions over the lax regulatory environment and incomprehensible cybersecurity policies have influenced the discussions.Design/methodology/approachThis paper will first offer a global outlook of cybersecurity laws and legislation. The global outlook will present the basis for examining best practices that the UAE could emulate. The paper will then examine the legislative landscape of cyber laws in the UAE, including cross-country comparisons. The comparisons are critical, as the country’s cybercrime laws are in their infancy phase.FindingsThe UAE has taken decisive and proactive measures to deter the threat of cybercrimes and cyberattacks. The UAE strategy comprehensive strategy has been effective in protecting the economy and populations from the adverse effects of cybercrimes. The success lies in the enactment of comprehensive and streamlines laws and regulations with harsher penalties. The stringent legal measures, including longer jail terms, stiffer fines and deportation of foreigners, have ensured robust deterrence to cybercriminals.Originality/valueThe analysis has shown that the UAE has a higher score of preparedness against cybercrimes and cyberattacks. The UAE has specifically crafted a broader and effective legislative framework of cybercrime laws. Although the UAE has comprehensive cybercrime laws, the remarkable level of technological advances in the country makes citizens and businesses lucrative targets. The UAE now has the burden of doubling down its legal efforts to deter emerging cybersecurity risks.

HUDUD: THE RIGHT OF ALLAH SWT IN PERSPECTIVE OF PUNISHMENT FOR ADULTERY

Allah swt is the Creator and all creations (as servants) in this world are subjected to His commands and directions. Since He created humans and all creations in this world, then only Allah swt knows what is the best for His creations. This concept paper is to highlight about Hudud as one of punishment under Islamic criminal law which is also known as right of Allah swt. The general evidence of Hudud being proved by Quranic Verses in Surah Al- Baqarah which remind people not to transgress or challenge the limits of Allah swt (2:229). Qisas and Takzir also the types of punishment for Islamic criminal law. Hence, the author selects Hudud, and specifically chooses punishment of adultery to be emphasized in this paper to give clear picture to mass about this kind of punishments and the wisdom behind the implementation of the punishments. Muslim worldwide also are not confident about the survival of Islam without the sword and the harsh punishment of Islamic law. Islam is a religion of wisdom. The wisdom came with comprehensive way of life. In educating people to abide with all rules and regulations in their daily life, we need to have some guidance and reference. Islam already remind people to always stick with Al- Quran and As Sunnah, so that the people always having guidance to survive in this challenging world and prepared for Hereafter. It is hoped that this paper may provide better picture of Hudud by using punishment for adultery as matter of thinking, or to the best, change the mentality of some who label Islamic law is harsh and strict.

Determining the key childhood and adolescent risk factors for future BPD symptoms using regularized regression: comparison to depression and conduct disorder.

Research has yielded factors considered critical to risk for borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet, these factors overlap and are relevant to other disorders, like depression and conduct disorder (CD). Regularized regression, a machine learning approach, was developed to allow identification of the most important variables in large datasets with correlated predictors. We aimed to identify critical predictors of BPD symptoms in late adolescence (ages 16-18) and determine the specificity of factors to BPD versus disorders with putatively similar etiology. We used a prospective longitudinal dataset (n=2,450) of adolescent girls assessed on a range of clinical, psychosocial, and demographic factors, highlighted by previous research on BPD. Predictors were grouped by developmental periods: late childhood (8-10) and early (11-13) and mid-adolescence (14-15), yielding 128 variables from 41 constructs. The same variables were used in models predicting depression and CD symptoms. The best-fitting model for BPD symptoms included 19 predictors and explained 33.2% of the variance. Five constructs - depressive and anxiety symptoms, self-control, harsh punishment, and poor social and school functioning - accounted for most of the variance explained. BPD was differentiated from CD by greater problems with mood and anxiety in BPD and differences in parenting risk factors. Whereas the biggest parenting risk for BPD was a punitive style of parenting, CD was predicted by both punitive and disengaged styles. BPD was differentiated from MDD by greater social problems and poor behavioral control in BPD. The best predictors of BPD symptoms in adolescence are features suggesting complex comorbidity, affective activation, and problems with self-control. Though some risk factors were non-specific (e.g., inattention), the disorders were distinguished in clinically significant ways.

Risk factors for child abuse, neglect and exposure to intimate partner violence in early childhood: Findings in a representative cross-sectional sample in Germany

BackgroundThe KiD 0–3 national main study is a cross-sectional study on adversity in early childhood and parental access to support services, conducted as part of a long-term policy program for early intervention services in Germany. ObjectiveTo identify risk factors for child abuse, neglect and exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and investigate if parental use of early intervention programs or contact to child welfare services was associated with reported child maltreatment. Participants and setting8063 families with infants and toddlers participated in the survey. Parents answered a written questionnaire during mandatory health checks for the child. The sampling was based on a regionally clustered model of pediatricians’ practices. MethodsAn automatic variable selection process was used to test risk factors and logistic regression models were employed for each outcome. ResultsSignificant risk factors (p < 0.05) for child abuse (1.91 %) were child age, IPV and parental stress. Neglect (0.83 %) was associated with couple distress, adverse childhood experiences, young maternal age, cramped housing, and migration history. IPV (2.98 %) was associated with child age, couple distress, depression/anxiety, harsh punishment, adverse childhood experiences, young maternal age, and poverty. Parents were more likely to use selective prevention programs in cases of child abuse and exposure to IPV. ConclusionChild abuse is mainly associated with proximal risk factors and neglect with distal factors. Exposure to IPV violence is associated with child abuse as well as with an accumulation of adversities. The association between service use and child maltreatment is discussed.

Publicity, politics, and professoriate in fin-de-siècle Vienna: The misconduct of the embryologist Samuel Leopold Schenk.

This essay uses the case of the fin-de-siècle Vienna embryologist Samuel Leopold Schenk to analyze the factors at play in allegations of misconduct. In 1898, Schenk published a book titled Theorie Schenk. Einfluss auf das Geschlechtsverhältnis (Schenk's theory. Influence on the sex ratio). The book argued that, by changing their diet, women trying to conceive could influence egg maturation and consequently select the sex of their offspring. This cross between a scientific monograph and a popular advice book received enormous publicity but also spurred first the Vienna Medical Association and then the Senate of the University of Vienna to accuse Schenk of poor science, self-advertisement, quack medical practice, and wrong publisher choice. Formal proceedings against Schenk ended in 1900 with the unusually harsh punishment of early retirement. Schenk died two years later. I examine the elements of the case, from the science of sex determination and selection, to the growth of print media and advertising within the changing demographic and political landscape of Vienna. I argue that the influence of the public, via the growing media, upon science was the main driver of the case against Schenk, but also that the case would have had a more limited impact were it not for the volatile political moment rife with anti-Semitism, nationalism, and xenophobia. I draw the attention to the importance of setting cases of misconduct in the broader political history and against the key social concerns of the moment.

The Two Subalterns: Perceived Status and Violent Punitiveness

From the mid-twentieth century, state and public conceptions of deviance and crime control have turned increasingly punitive (Hallett 115; Hutchinson 138). In a Western context, criminal justice has long been retributive, prioritising punishment over rehabilitation (Wenzel et al. 26). Within that context, there has been an increase in punitiveness—understood here as a measure of a punishment’s severity—the intention of which has been to help restore the moral imbalance created by offending while also deterring future crime (Wenzel et al. 26). Entangled with the global spread of neoliberal capitalism, punitiveness has become internationally pervasive to a near-hegemonic degree (Sparks qtd. in Jennings et al. 463; Unnever and Cullen 100). The punitive turn has troubling characteristics. Punitive policies can be expensive, and increased incarceration stresses the criminal justice system and leads to prison overcrowding (Hutchinson 135). Further, punitiveness is not only applied unequally across categories such as class, race, and age (Unnever and Cullen 105-06; Wacquant 212) but the effectiveness of punitive policy relative to its costs is contested (Bouffard et al. 466, 477; Hutchinson 139). Despite this, evidence suggests public demand is driving punitive policymaking, but that demand is only weakly related to crime rates (Jennings et al. 463). While discussion of punitiveness in the public sphere often focuses on measures such as boot camps for young offenders, increased incarceration, and longer prison sentences, punitiveness also has a darker side. Our research analysing discussion taking place on a large, regional, crime-focused online forum reveals a startling degree and intensity of violence directed at offenders and related groups. Members of the discussion forum do propose unsurprising measures such as incarceration and boot camps, but also an array of violent alternatives, including beating, shooting, dismemberment, and conversion into animal food. This article draws on our research to explore why discussion of punitiveness can be so intensely violent.

Student Discipline and the Active Avoidance Doctrine

Pursuant to zero tolerance discipline policies, public school students have increasingly faced harsh penalties for seemingly innocuous behavior. For example, students as young as six have been suspended from school for using a toddler-proof butter knife at lunchtime, chewing a breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun, and even doodling on a desk. An entire body of scholarship has been dedicated to the denigration of the current student discipline regime, and from it, how the term “School-to-Prison Pipeline” was born. That work criticizes the zero-tolerance approach to student discipline, relying on data that shows how it disproportionately affects students of color and arguing that it places a success barrier for at-risk students, ferrying the most vulnerable students into an irreversible cycle of crime and pushing higher education out of reach. While scholars have opined about the shortfalls and undesirable consequences of exclusionary discipline practices and offered intriguing solutions for reform, the discussion surrounding the constitutional implications of a school’s active avoidance of discipline reform is scant. This Article attempts to fill that void. Student Discipline and the Active Avoidance Doctrine explores the implications of a public school’s active avoidance of discipline reform. By examining the unique school-pupil relationship inherent in the often-misconstrued doctrine of in loco parentis, it offers a novel legal framework for holding schools accountable for the known harms caused by exclusionary discipline and argues that a school’s active avoidance of discipline reform results in educational deprivations that raise Substantive Due Process concerns. Generally, schools owe no legal duty to protect students from harms caused while in school. But, while the in loco parentis doctrine has experienced a turbulent existence in the common law, some state legislatures have explicitly charged schools with in loco parentis status statutorily. These statutes codify a special relationship between students and public schools in those states, which triggers a legal duty to protect students from known harms. Even in states where in loco parentis status is not codified, the combined effect of compulsory education laws and a student’s liberty interest inherent in the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause suggest that public schools owe a legal duty to reform broken educational practices. Based on the principle that a public school’s enforcement of zero tolerance discipline results in educational deprivations, this Article introduces the Active Avoidance Doctrine, which closes the gap between Due Process theory and the overwhelming call for student discipline reform.

Re-Conceptualizing Burglary: An Analysis of the Use of Burglary as a Criminal Enhancement

Since its inception in the British common law, burglary has transformed from a narrow, discrete charge to an ever expanding and nebulously defined criminal act. Where the original definition included six precise elements, the majority of jurisdictions now define burglary as requiring only the unlawful entrance into a structure with the intent to commit a theft or felony. Additionally, the terms “entrance” and “structure” have expanded to include acts and locations far from those contemplated by the initial definition of the crime. This had led to a growing practice by criminal prosecutors: creatively alleging burglary to effectuate a criminal enhancement based solely on where the underlying crime took place. In this way, burglary is being used as a “location aggravator” rather than an allegation of the traditional standalone offense. While scholars have noted this practice for several decades, there is little scholarship attempting to assess whether this practice results in disproportionality harsh criminal punishments when compared to other location aggravators. This paper attempts to contribute to the debate regarding burglary by directly comparing the increase in criminal punishment that occurs from using burglary as an enhancement or aggravator with those increases in punishment stemming from a similar location aggravator under “Drug Free School Zone” laws. By looking at the legislative framework and caselaw surrounding the use of these enhancements in three different states — New Mexico, California, and New York — this paper will argue that the use of burglary as an enhancement results in disproportionally harsh criminal punishments in relation to the underlying offense when compared to similar location based enhancements.

Decentralizing Clemency: Decentralizing the Commutation Power to Invigorate Sentence Reduction

Reforming sentencing and reducing prison overcrowding requires a focus on the future to ensure just punishments and the past to re-evaluate harsh punishments from the ‘tough on crime’ era. This paper focuses on ending those past wrongs. Executive clemency is sometimes discussed as a method for addressing harsh punishments, but there are only so many governors and Presidents. This paper proposes amending the Ohio Constitution to grant the elected county prosecutors a commutation power subject to veto by the governor. This would decentralize clemency and create a new, potentially system-reshaping tool to address harsh sentences and empower reform-minded prosecutors. The paper additionally discusses other methods to expand clemency and favors adopting the novel constitutional amendment in addition to other reforms for maximum impact.

Reciprocal effects between daily situational perceptions and borderline personality symptoms in young adulthood: the role of childhood parenting experiences.

Recent research has emphasized the importance of within-person transactions between situational perceptions and borderline symptomatology. The current study extends current evidence by evaluating a broad range of situational perceptions and their transactions with borderline symptomatology across both private and professional contexts. Additionally, it explores whether early experiences of parental harsh punishment and emotional support during childhood, two well-established etiological factors in developmental theories of borderline symptomatology, influence the effect of daily situation perception in adulthood on borderline symptom presentation. N = 131 young adults (Mage = 20.97, s.d.age = 1.64) completed end-of-day diaries of their borderline symptoms and perceptions of the home and school or work environment for 14 days. During their mid-childhood, reports of maternal strategies of harsh punishment and emotional support were collected. Findings revealed that on the same day, borderline symptoms were associated with more negative and stressful, and less positive perceptions of both the private and professional context. Additionally, borderline symptoms predicted more negative and stressful perceptions of school/work on subsequent days. Finally, while early harsh punishment predicted overall increases in daily borderline symptoms 10 years later, emotionally supportive parenting in childhood predicted decreases in borderline symptom expression in less positive and more stressful contexts. The current study points to the importance of managing BPD symptoms to reduce subsequent negative perceptions of the environment, and also indicates the relevance of exploring adult person-situation processes based on early parenting experiences.

A Longitudinal Examination of the Role of Self-Control in the Relation between Corporal Punishment Exposure and Adolescent Aggression.

Prior research has demonstrated the importance of low self-control and corporal punishment exposure as risk factors for the development of aggressive behaviors. However, much less is known about the interplay between these two factors, that is, the extent to which they each contribute uniquely to aggression and/or interact synergistically to create a profile of particularly severe risk. Similarly, high self-control may be a moderating protective factor that helps explain why only a subset of individuals exposed to corporal punishment develop high levels of aggression. Data from the longitudinal Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z-proso) were used to address this question. Students completed self-report surveys at three time points; ages 11 (n = 1144; 51% males, 49% females), age 13 (n = 1366; 51% males, 49% females) and age 15 (n = 1447, 52% males and 48% females). An autoregressive cross-lagged panel model was used to examine self-control as a protective factor with both a direct effect and as a moderator of the links between corporal punishment and adolescent aggression across time. The results indicated that self-control was a protective factor against concurrent aggression. However, when considering the longitudinal effects, the protective capabilities of self-control differed depending on the stage of adolescence, gender and levels of exposure to risk. There was no consistent moderating effect of self-control. However, findings suggest that interventions that address low self-control are likely to be beneficial due to their direct effects on aggression, rather than by weakening the effects of exposure to harsh punishment.

Firms behaving badly? Investor reactions to corporate social irresponsibility

AbstractCorporate social irresponsibility (CSI) and other questionable business incidents that appear to harm stakeholders frequently afflict firms yet draw disparate investor reactions. We address this disparity by investigating the association between firm legal orientation and investor reactions to CSI. We hypothesize the proportion of board members and top management team (TMT) executives with law degrees affects investor perceptions of firm foresight, and in turn, their judgment of blame and consequent punishment. Based on abnormal returns to 629 announcements of CSI and 308 publicly traded S&amp;P 500 firms, we find that both too small and too large a proportion of board of directors and TMT members with law degrees lead investors to mete out harsher punishment. This inverted u‐shaped link is further affected by firm size, firm risk, and industry competition. Our investigation sheds light on the link between executive education and financial performance in the context of CSI and investor perceptions of foresight.

Mazdeans and Christians Facing the End of the World: Circulations and Exchanges of Concepts

This contribution offers a conspectus of the parallel treatment of some escha­tological subjects in the comparative framework of Mazdean and Christian sources. Although some impact of the Judeo-Chris­tian tradition on Iranian apocalypticism has been fittingly detected in previous studies, the author in­sists on evidence showing a sort of circular exchange between Chris­tians and Mazdeans, where, for in­stan­ce, chiliasm presents some Iranian (and not only Ba­by­lonian) resonances, while the well-known Zo­ro­as­trian doctrine of universal mercy and of the *apokatastasis* shows impressive correspondences with the Ori­genian doctrines. What distinguishes the Iranian framework is the fact that millenarianism, apocalypse and *apokatastasis* did not directly contrast, as it happened in the Christian milieu. These Christian doc­trines played a certain influence in Sasanian Iran, although their diffusion and acceptance was pro­bably slow and progressive, and became dominant among Zoroastrians only after the fall of the Sasanian period, when the Mazdean Church was no longer the pillar of the state and the social and legal order. The diffusion of the doctrine of universal mercy was a later acquisition, as shown from the evidence that earlier Mazdean doctrines did not assume a complete salvation for the wicked but prescribed a harsh and eternal punishment for them. Fur­ther­more, the author focuses on his own research on these sub­jects and summarises some results concerning a new and original presentation of the Mazdean concept of evil as a manifestation of suffering, comparable to a state of mental 'sickness.'

Land conflict, murder, and the rise of “timeless culture” and girl blaming (Samburu, Kenya)

The paper examines youthful practices in the Samburu pastoralist age set system as they evolved into tropes of warrior girlfriends inciting masculine violence. Through a close examination of a well-publicized Kenyan court case surrounding the suspicious death in 1931 of Theodore Powys, a British settler, this paper documents the shaping of a discourse about feminine agency and masculine bravado among the youth that eventuated in harsh state-sponsored collective punishment of a pastoralist Samburu community. Colonial officers and European settlers strategically deployed Samburu youth “culture” in the form of girls’ sexuality and young men’s martial role in the tense, globally significant milieus of land policy and conflict in ways that persist in the twenty-first century. Thus, girls’ sexuality has had political implications that far exceed the lives of individual girls.

The stock theft act and customary courts in Botswana: justice sacrificed on the altar of expediency?

The incidence of stock theft has been high in Botswana, as it is elsewhere in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). In 1996, the problem compelled the country’s parliament to intervene and enact the Stock Theft Act. After 22 years of its being in operation, however, there is little evidence to suggest that the Act’s harsh penalties have led to a reduction in cattle theft. A more serious problem with the law is that its penalties are imposed by customary courts with scarcely any safeguards in place to ensure that justice is done. Arguably, justice is sacrificed at the altar of expediency in response to widespread popular revulsion against cattle thieves. This paper engages with the problem of cattle theft, examining what motivated the adoption of such a harsh law and what the implications are of granting customary courts the jurisdiction to deal with these matters. While there is an urgent need to repeal the Act, in the meantime it should be applied strictly, with all presiding officers of customary courts being required, at the beginning of every stock-theft proceeding, to inform the accused that he or she has a right to opt for a trial before a Magistrates’ court. This is one of the few safeguards provided for by the Act, but because it is ignored so often, many people end up in prison when they might have been acquitted had they been tried by the better-equipped Magistrates’ courts.

An Exploration of the Relationship between Maternal and Child Factors Contributing to Child Abuse

Background: There are many reports in the mass media and scientific literature about child abuse caused by parents. Medical practitioners also are concerned about child abuse and need to grapple with the prevention and early detection of child abuse when working in medical facilities. Aim: The aim of this descriptive study was to explore the relationship between maternal and child factors contributing to child abuse. Methods: A sample of 50 multiparas (mothers with more than 1 child) in a 48-bed postpartum hospital unit in Okinawa prefecture were asked to fill out an anonymous questionnaire regarding the relationship between mothers and their first child in September, 2007. The questionnaire contained 30 items of physical punishment that are quoted from “The Handbook of Correspondence to Child Abuse” (Ministry of Health, Labor and welfare in Japan), 24 items relating to maternal factors and 22 items to child factors, plus items related to mothers’ satisfaction with the health guidance given in the hospital. Data were analyzed using JMP (ver. 14.2; SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, U.S.). The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: Forty-one (82%) questionnaires were analyzed. Of the 41 valid responses, 19 mothers reported abusing their children. Child factors contributing to the abuse included the first child’s regression to infantile behavior, bullying younger brothers or sisters and being rough and violent to their friends. The significant maternal factor leading to abuse was the belief that mothers were irritated by their child. Conclusion: A first child’s developmental difficulties had a significant relationship with the harsh punishment by their mothers. The mothers need to understand their child’s developmental behavior and provide a favorable environment for nurturing young children.

Bias in the Treatment of Non-Germans in the British and American Military Government Courts in Occupied Germany, 1945–46

AbstractNon-Germans—particularly “displaced persons”—were routinely blamed for crime in occupied western Germany. The Allied and German fixation on foreign gangs, violent criminals, and organized crime syndicates is well documented in contemporary reports, observations, and the press. An abundance of such data has long shaped provocative historical narratives of foreign-perpetrated criminality ranging from extensive disorder through to near uncontrolled anarchy. Such accounts complement assertions of a broader and more generalized crime wave. Over the last 30 years, however, a literature has emerged that casts doubt on the actual extent of lawlessness during the occupation of the west and, in turn, on the level non-German participation in crime. It may be that extensive reporting of non-German criminality at the time reflected the preexisting bigotries of Germans and the Allies, which when combined with anxieties about social and societal integrity became focused on the most marginalized groups in postwar society. This process of “group criminalization” is common and can have different motivations. Regardless of its cause, it was clearly evident in postwar western Germany and we hypothesized that it should have created harsher outcomes for non-German versus German criminal defendants when facing the Allied criminal justice system, such as greater rates of conviction and harsher punishments. This hypothesis was tested using newly collected military government court data from 1945 to 1946. Contrary to expectations, we found a more subtle bias against non-Germans than expected, which we argue reveals important characteristics about the US and British military government criminal justice system.

A Historical Analysis of Rape Laws in India

Sexual assault and its various forms have been recognized by almost all the society and have been recorded by history. It is not a crime against women but it is the crime against the whole society; it is against the basic human rights of all the individuals. Rape laws have been recognized by all the countries; in India 'rape laws' began with the enactment of the Indian Penal Code 1860. After 1860 there have been various amendments, and the main issue of focus remained on the definition of The inclusion of 'consent' and 'age of consent' in rape became a very big matter of debate and thus wth proper judgments and amendments the consent part in rape has been made clear. A big matter of debate from the 1990s until today in the ambit of rape laws is the inclusion of marital rape. Facing public protests and political pressure after the attack, the government reformed some laws on sexual violence and harsher punishments but still sexual attacks have caused outrage. This paper discusses various amendments that have been made till today regarding rape laws in India and reason and the need for those changes and the loopholes that still exist in rape laws in today's Indian legal system.