Inspections of the body’s most intimate surfaces were crucial to rape cases in early modern England. Female medical experts evaluated bruises, lacerations, and stretched skin for evidence of a violation. Yet numerous courtroom investigations seemed to centre around the marks of venereal disease rather than sexual abuse. These cases reframed the focus of inquiry from rape to disease at nearly every step, from witnesses’ accounts of the discovery of rape to courtroom inspections of bodies and clothing. This article examines fifty-nine such cases and argues that placing the poxed body, as opposed to the ravished body, center stage made rape easier to communicate, convict, and condemn. More than a simple proxy for penetrative sex, venereal disease provided a detailed and morally loaded language for talking about otherwise unspeakable acts. And perhaps most importantly, the disease offered tangible, if contested, evidence of rape that could be touched, viewed, and evaluated by male – rather than female – medical experts. Venereal disease effectively refocused rape cases away from the kinds of words and bodily inspections that were viewed with suspicion and onto those that were deemed reliable.

中文翻译：

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Poxed and Raviished: 早期现代强奸试验中的性病

检查身体最私密的表面对于现代早期英格兰的强奸案至关重要。女性医学专家评估了瘀伤、撕裂和拉伤的皮肤是否有违规的证据。然而，许多法庭调查似乎都集中在性病的标志上，而不是性虐待。这些案件几乎在每一步都将调查的重点从强奸到疾病重新定义，从目击者对发现强奸的叙述到法庭对尸体和衣服的检查。本文研究了 59 起此类案件，并认为将长痘的身体（而不是被强奸的身体）置于中心舞台使强奸更容易传达、定罪和谴责。性病不仅仅是插入性行为的简单代表，它还为谈论其他难以言说的行为提供了一种详细且充满道德的语言。也许最重要的是，这种疾病提供了有形的（如果有争议的话）强奸证据，男性（而不是女性）医学专家可以触摸、查看和评估这些证据。性病有效地将强奸案的重点从被怀疑的语言和身体检查转向那些被认为可靠的语言和身体检查。