It could be my son! ‘Himpathy’ and the male fear defence in rape trials

Abstract

Why do legal professionals mention their sons when discussing a new consent-based rape law? Drawing on feminist legal studies and sociology of emotions, this article investigates a discourse of male fear of rape accusations among Swedish legal professionals and how defence lawyers strategically employ it. The analysis shows that a male fear defence is deployed to evoke a specific kind of sympathy termed ‘himpathy’ among judges. The male fear discourse serves as a himpathy resource to problematize the implications of the new rape law and to explain irrational behaviour from men accused of rape, instilling doubts about the complainant's credibility, suggesting false accusations, and creating an imagined ‘ruined’ future for the accused man if convicted, including his and his relatives’ shame over the rapist stigma. The findings highlight the role of background emotions in legal practice concerning rape and how the law remains ‘himpathetic’ despite radical consent-based rape legislation.