This chapter reviews the literature on evolutionary explanations of rape. In particular, it will discuss research that has investigated whether women have rape counter-adaptations. Rape counteradaptations entail specialized mechanisms that reduce women's risk of male sexual coercion. Our discussion will be necessarily restricted to rape perpetrated on women by men. Although women can perpetrate rape and men can be the victims of rape, most rapes are perpetrated by men against women (Office for National Statistics, 2013). Accordingly, evolutionary explanations of rape have been concerned with accounting for male-perpetrated rapes against females.
Costs of rapeThe evolutionary framework assumes that animals strive to attain two fundamental goals: survive and reproduce offspring. In women, successful reproduction is considered to be passing on the strongest genes and resources that will increase the chances of survival of the species. During peak fertility, women aim to attract the highest quality mate to achieve this. Successful reproduction for males involves the quantity of their offspring, with less importance being placed on their quality (Bateman, 1948;Trivers, 1972). In order to survive, some psychologists propose that humans weigh up the costs and benefits of putting themselves in certain situations, which could prove fruitful, in terms of achieving resources to benefit fitness, such as meeting mates, but could also pose risks in terms of encountering aggressive mates, for example. For the purposes of this chapter, benefits refer to outcomes of a positive sexual encounter (e.g., increased chances of successful reproduction) whilst costs refer to the consequences of a negative sexual encounter (e.g. decreased chances of successful reproduction). Rape, therefore, is a high cost due to the reduced chances of a successful and wanted reproduction (McKibbin, 2014).Perhaps one of the most obvious costs of rape is the psychological pain felt by the victim. With regards to reproductive fitness specifically, however, pregnancy arising from rape is considered to be one of the highest costs of rape. Pregnancy reduces a woman's reproductive fitness significantly because she must carry and raise offspring with a mate not of her choosing, thereby limiting her reproductive resources. It is argued that "perhaps the most important priority for many female animals in their heterosexual interactions is the maintenance of [mate] choice" (Wilson et al. 1997, p.443). Rape circumvents female mate choice, and so, according to the evolutionary framework, it is particularly costly with regard to unwanted conception.
