Rape, like the introductory offer at my yoga studio, is a charge that only applies on the first visit. This, according to George Galloway, in defence of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who is charged with rape. Galloway says that even if it is true that Assange forced himself on a woman who had fallen asleep after earlier, consensual sex, it simply isn’t rape:
Not everybody needs to be asked prior to each insertion.
It might be really bad manners not to have tapped her on the shoulder and said, ‘do you mind if I do it again?’
It might be really sordid and bad sexual etiquette, but whatever else it is, it is not rape.
Galloway’s principle of eternal consent has interesting implications. For example, it suggests that bank robbery is fine, provided you make a legitimate withdrawal first.
I’m off to the cash point.