Abstract
Starlyn Watts' experience at trial makes clear that despite legislative safeguards put in place to protect victims of sexual assault in criminal and civil proceedings, the male voice, as the dominating speaker in society, prevents the protection of victims from the stereotypical prejudices against women propagated by male society. It is law as ideology that further gives fuel to this voice as it allows reality to be masked and inhibits social change. To unveil reality and effect social change within the law, the patriarchal voice must be exposed as a potent propaganda. Once unmasked, social change must still be put into motion so that more than one voice may formulate the Rule of Law. Only with exposure and the acceptance of a narrative legal theory so as to give voice to the feminist perspective can the insidiousness of patriarchy be appreciated and ultimately eradicated from society.
Recommended Citation
Mary Ellen Lemieux,
Whatever Made you think I Was Consenting: A Proposal to Silence Patriarchal Influence in Civil Sexual Assault Cases,
2 Hastings Women's L.J. 33
(1990).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hwlj/vol2/iss1/6