B. Consent
The essence of rape is the absence of consent to sexual intercourse. The prosecution must prove either that the defendant knew the victim did not consent or that he was reckless whether the victim consented or not. The word “unlawful” in section 118 of the Crimes Ordinance adds nothing to the contemporary definition of rape. Unlawful sexual intercourse occurs where the victim does not consent, the man either knows there is no consent or presses ahead regardless whether she consents or not. Unlawful sexual intercourse does not exclude sexual intercourse that a man has with his wife (marital rape).
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