Rape is Rape is Rape: The Story of Dinah and Shechem

A number of studies have been published in the last few years that hold that Gen 34 is the story of seduction rather than of rape. Recently, the suggestion has been raised that the story describes an abduction marriage, not rape. The seduction theory is refuted by a close literary reading of the story and the findings of psychological studies of rape. Even if we agree that the story is about abduction marriage, we should nevertheless call the sexual relations involved by their proper name rape since the woman did not give her consent. This is demonstrated on the basis of anthropological research into the phenomenon of abduction marriage. As a matter of principle, we should relate to the incident from the victim's point of view and not that of the attacker.