Degrees of s exual h arm

Brian D. Earp

University of Oxford

Abstract *

In this chapter, adapted from a longer journal article, I argue that we need to be careful, as a

society, about how we talk about rape and other forms of sexual assault. By choosing to describe

the effects of rape exclusively in the harshest of language, thereby obscuring the range of harms

that can follow from such assault -- as well as lumping the experience of all victims together --

anti-rape advocates may inadvertently play into a cartoon of rape (the "stranger in an alleyway"

conception) that makes it harder to recognize more subtle consent violations in everyday sexual

encounters.

* Please note: this abs tract does not appear in the final, publi shed version of this chapter. It is i ncluded

here for reference only.

Author’s personal copy. Published book chapter . Please cite as:

Earp, B. D. (2016). Degrees of sexual harm. In D. Edmonds (Ed.), Philosophers Take on the

World (pp. 10-14). Oxford: Oxford University Press . Available online at:

https://www.academia.edu/23892450/Degrees_of_sexual_harm

Note: this chapter is adapted from a longer piece published originally as: Earp, B. D. (2015).