A History of Rape: Sexual Violence in France from the 16th to the 20th Century

This important new book, by one of the leading social historians inFrance today, analyses the changing meaning of rape throughnumerous case studies across the centuries.


The book begins with a history of the relative tolerance of sexualviolence in early modern France, and the tendency to condemn thevictims by enveloping them in the shame of the act. It then tracesthe changing legal attitudes to sexual violence at the end of theeighteenth century, and the slow recognition of the role of moralviolence in rape in the nineteenth century. Vigarello also stressesthe importance of the new medical jurisprudence and theintroduction of forensic psychiatry into the courtroom.


But despite the increased number of convictions in the nineteenthcentury, it was only after the campaigns conducted by feminists inthe twentieth century that the true gravity of rape as a crimeagainst women's integrity was fully recognized. As a result, actsof sexual violence are no longer assessed in terms of the risk ofdebauchery, but in terms of the risk of 'psychic murder' and innerdamage.


A History of Rape is a valuable resource for students and scholarsof social history, and anyone interested in changing attitudes tosexuality and sexual violence