The Logic of State Abuse
If women are considered by the state to be properties of their families and communities, rather than individuals bearing inalienable natural rights, then crimes against them are defined by whether or not a social norm or socially defined status has been violated, not by whether or not the woman has been harmed. Society is harmed, not the woman. So if society is not harmed, there is no case to be made that the woman has been harmed. In its most extreme manifestation, it used to be the case in Turkey that if a rapist married his victim, there was no crime (because the intercourse became socially legitimate). There were lower penalties for rape of a virgin than a non-virgin because something of social value had been damaged. Rape of a prostitute was barely a crime at all. These laws have changed in Turkey, although are still in effect in various other countries. But the understanding of women as property of their family, community and state still hangs on. See the article here. Excerpt:
Lawyers and nongovernmental organizations have reacted angrily after the Supreme Court of Appeals reduced a sexual abuse sentence against a father convicted of raping his own daughter on the grounds that the girl had remained a virgin even though she had aborted the fetus.
“This decision has ruined every attempt we have made to prevent the legitimization of these kinds of incidents,” Liz Amado, head of the Women’s Human Rights Association, told daily Akşam….
Turkey never experienced the Enlightenment so the intellectual foundation for sound moral philosophy is absent. If any change for the better occurs (and it won’t), it will be because the younger generation has watched more courtroom dramas rather than any exposure to Kant or what have you.