... and the German ones, too.

Warning: Contains disturbing verbal content and adult language.

I would like to submit the view that the British laws against rape are too lenient.

Background: A few years ago, I was visited by a female English friend. We went for a pub crawl, and soon enough we were hammered. Standing at the bar besides her, and watching the females coming in, I made a stupid remark along the lines of, "Well, if they wear skirts like that, they shouldn't complain if they're raped."

Upon which she rushed out of the pub. I followed her and asked her what's wrong. In tears, she told me that she had been raped by her ex-boyfriend. About two years ago. Apparently, it was her punishment for leaving him.

In what followed, I strongly advised (pressured?) that she take the bastard to court. My argument was, "What if he does it again to someone else?", but in retrospect, I also found the "You shouldn't push any victim to relive the experience" argument pretty convincing. I still don't know whether I did the right or the wrong thing.

She did. You should think that it's impossibly hard to prove a two-year-old rape, but the police actually managed to convince one of his mates, who had cheered him on while he was doing it, to testify against him. He was convicted.

So, what do you think would be appropriate for this crime? Seven years? Eight?

He got two and a half.

I personally feel that given the gravity of the crime, this is way too little. I know there is no objective measure of what a fair punishment is, so if you disagree with me, you disagree with me, and that's it. I, however, am going to say:

Toughen up British rape laws, toghen them up now!

And let's hope the bastard got arse-raped in prison quite a bit.