 Difficulties about consent and proof attend other forms of violence against women as wll. Incest, like rape, was always illegal but rarely admitted, let alone prosecuted. Prosecutors were all too willing to drop charges when women chose not to press them, potentially confusing respect for the victim’s choices with her fear of embarrassment or coercion. And sexual harassment (like sex discrimination) simply did not exist as legal claims until the 1960s or later (MacKinnon &amp; Siegel 2004; MacKinnon 1979). So it is clear not only that equal protection of law for women was not recognized until recently, but also that the force of law was used to back male dominance. If a man were attacked on the street he could pursue his attacker in the courts of law. If a woman were attacked in her home she had no legal cause of action as it was considered a private matter. Many feminist critics contend that in important respects such domestic violence amnesia continues to characterize how law functions (Dempsey 2009). This is true in both criminal law and the law of private damages, according to these critics (Chamallas &amp; Wriggins 2010).