Using the Court: Rape and Gender Discourse on Trial in Early Modern Korea

This paper looks at rape in early modern Korean legal cases to cast light on how gender mattered in the way rape was reported and punished. In addition to paying close attention to shifts in the rape law, this paper examines how women who were originally accused of adultery cried rape to avoid punishment, and how debates over the definition of rape continued in the local courts. Finally, it delves into the question of how people with different social statuses, professions, and familial duties in local communities used the existing law to defend and mediate their positions, whether as victims or offenders, when facing an incident of rape.