Utmost Resistance

That degree of resistance that a woman traditionally has been required to offer her attacker in order to charge that she has been raped; the maximum resistance of which a person is capable in resisting attack. 149 N.W. 771, 772. The "utmost resistance" doctrine may not apply if the woman is put in fear of personal violence and so submits to avert serious bodily injury to herself. 143 S.W. 2d 288, 289. See generally Perkins & Boyce, Criminal Law 210-12 (3rd ed. 1982).

Rape

Unlawful sexual activity, usually sexual intercourse, carried out forcibly or under threat of injury and against the will of the victim. Though traditionally limited to attacks on women by men, the definition of rape has been broadened to cover same-sex attacks and attacks against those who, because of mental illness, intoxication, or other reasons, are incapable of valid consent. Statutory rape, or intercourse with a person younger than a certain age (generally from 12 to 18 years), has long been a serious crime in most jurisdictions. Rape is widely considered an expression of anger or aggression and a pathological assertion of power by the rapist. The psychological responses of victims vary but usually include feelings of shame, humiliation, confusion, fear, and rage. Many rape victims fail to report the crime, deterred by the prospect of a distressing cross-examination in court and the difficulty of proving a crime for which there usually are no witnesses. In the late 20th century there was a notable increase in the use of rape as a weapon of war, and in the 1990s the tribunal investigating crimes stemming from genocide in Rwanda ruled that rape and sexual violence constituted a form of genocide.