Based on Carol Smart's observation that rape law reform as lobbied for by the feminist movement during the 1970s and 1980s failed to achieve any meaningful change, this article seeks to examine the nature and implications of rape law reform in the Republic of Ireland from the 1980s to the present day. During the 1980s the conceptualization of rape changed from a proprietorial crime to a violation of individual bodily integrity due to feminist lobbying efforts and the emergence of a victim-centered approach in the criminal justice system. Though this changing conceptualisation has led to significant attitudinal change, particularly surrounding the issues of acquaintance and marital rape, procedural change has failed to secure higher conviction rates. In particular, this article demonstrates that the legal reforms achieved in the 1980s potentially resulted in a 2% decrease in rape conviction rates by 2007. When compared to England/Wales, conviction rates as distinctive from prosecution rates in Ireland remain chronically low. This indicates that any legal reforms must take account of the institutional bias ingrained the Irish criminal justice system against female rape complainants, which has continuing relevance for Irish legislation pertaining to sexual violence such as the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, 2017. Overall this article suggests that rape is an exceptional crime and needs to be reassessed as such.

中文翻译：

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女权主义的失败？爱尔兰共和国的强奸法改革，1980-2017

基于卡罗尔·斯马特 (Carol Smart) 的观察，即 1970 年代和 1980 年代女权运动所游说的强奸法改革未能实现任何有意义的改变，本文试图研究 1980 年代至 1980 年代爱尔兰共和国强奸法改革的性质和影响。现在。在 1980 年代，由于女权主义游说努力和刑事司法系统中以受害者为中心的方法的出现，强奸的概念从所有权犯罪转变为对个人身体完整性的侵犯。尽管这种不断变化的概念导致态度发生重大变化，特别是围绕熟人和婚内强奸问题，但程序变化未能确保更高的定罪率。特别是，本文表明，1980 年代实现的法律改革可能导致到 2007 年强奸定罪率下降 2%。与英格兰/威尔士相比，与爱尔兰的起诉率不同的定罪率长期处于低位。这表明任何法律改革都必须考虑到爱尔兰刑事司法系统对女性强奸投诉人根深蒂固的制度偏见，这与爱尔兰有关性暴力的立法（例如 2017 年刑法（性犯罪）法）具有持续的相关性。总体而言，这文章指出，强奸是一种特殊罪行，因此需要重新评估。