WHAT'S NEXT

Tell Idaho Not to Condone Rape of Unmarried Women
  1. Signatures
    5,449 out of 7,500
    Petitioning
    1. The Governor of ID (+ 2 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • The Governor of ID
      • The ID State Senate
      • The ID State House
  2. Created By
    Jay Breneman
    Erie, PA
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
How We Won

Mar 15, 2011

After learning of a legal loophole in Idaho that let men get away with rape as long as their victim was unmarried, over 5,000 Change.org members joined the call to insist that this be remedied. It worked. Idaho's code on rape has been revised to allow all women, regardless of marital status, to seek justice against their assailants.

Last summer, a woman in southwestern Idaho became the victim of her boyfriend's deceit, who tricked her into having sex with a stranger. After reporting this crime to the police, both men were arrested and subsequently indicted by a grand jury on charges of rape, and conspiracy to commit rape.

Both men were later set free, and all charges were dismissed, thanks to very specific wording in Idaho's rape law. Bound by this law, the judge had no other choice.

According to subsection 7 of Idaho Code 18-6101, rape of a woman by deceit and concealment is only unlawful if she believes the perpetrator is her husband. Idaho lawmakers have excluded a woman's protection against rape that is committed by someone pretending to be her unmarried partner.

Tell Idaho lawmakers that deceiving a person into sex is rape, regardless of marital status.

Photo credit: 16123758@N06

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Improve Idaho's Laws Against Rape

Greetings,

As you may already know, a recent court ruling set free two men accused of raping a woman because of a specifically worded clause in Idaho's rape law.

According to subsection 7 of Idaho Code 18-6101, rape of a woman by deceit and concealment is only unlawful if she believes the perpetrator is her husband. This law does nothing to protect women who are violated by individuals fraudulently posing as their boyfriend or partner.

I urge you to recognize that in excluding unmarried women from protections against rape by fraud is morally wrong and callous.

Your legislative priority rests upon fixing this injustice and extending these protections, so that no woman is forced to face this violation without the full support of the law.

[Your name]

Press Inquiries