From the Perspective of Rape-Induced Suicides in Victim Women: On the Designation of Rape as Being Causative of “Other Serious Consequences”

Haiqiang Yang

Traditional theory and judicial practices in China have commonly held that the causation of suicides in victim women in relation to rape classifies as “causing… any other serious consequence” as stipulated in rape-related provisions, and that as of such, the rapist should be held liable for the victim’s consequential suicide. This article, however, seeks to demonstrate through four aspects that only under the conditions that: in conformity with general perception, the victim’s act of suicide is generic and proportionate to circumstance, and also when the subsequent act of suicide is not non-normative, should the rapist be held accountable for its occurrence.