I've been rewatching TOS, and I'm always struck by how many "superior" races are out there who consider killing Kirk, Spock, or the Enterprise for some imagined infraction. The crew seems to experience a lot of these crimes against free will. Good essay--lots to think about!

I had to read this in seperate settings because it is extensive. But, wow, you did some great work here. I am assuming your stats are real (the stats from our time that is) which gives this posting a real grounding in reality.

I actually think that Sexual abuse, of all kinds, against women/children, would actually increase in the Federation's future. Because, from watching TNG and Voyager, I get the opinion than you could have a world that condones child labor, honor killings, multiple wives, child abuse and the Federation won't mind as long as you do these things ON your world....

A recent thread on BBS, which I started about Worf 'honor killing' Duras is a great example. Worf murdered Duras and got a slap on his wrist because it was his custom. And if beating his wife was a custom that would be okay too?

BUT...back to your detailed explaination of what the laws might be? You have done a great job and wow, it was great. Do you have a legal background??? Do you think a 'lawyar' Star Trek series/or book would be a hit if done right?

Rob

Author's Response: I think that in order to join the Federation, you need to sign off on a contract guaranteeing basic sentient rights. So no, there isn't increased sexual abuse *in* the Federation. But the Federation will do absolutely nothing to help victims of abuse who are being abused in accordance with the rules of their own culture, if they are not Federation citizens; I explain Turkana IV as "all members of Federation species are Federation citizens unless either they or the government they belong to have renounced that citizenship", and therefore it's not a prime directive violation to come in on a world of *humans* with rape gangs and clean things up. But had Tasha been a non-Federation alien she would still be living there. Worf could beat his Klingon wife and no one would do a damn thing, if it was Klingon custom. But he couldn't beat his Federation citizen wife. Remember that when Lwaxana Troi had a kid with a Federation citizen from a world where the men take the boys off and raise them without input from their mothers for years, she took shelter with Odo on DS9 just long enough to get her legal ducks in a row so she could sue for custody, something she'd have been unable to do if the Federation just lets customs trump each other. I suspect that there are laws regulating what Federation citizens are allowed to *do*, so a Federation citizen can't beat his wife even if it's *her* race's custom to expect it. The stats are roughly real, except for "half of all rapes are for power and half are for sex", which I pulled out of my ass because there's actually no way to tell the difference. In real life, only 20% of rapes are the pure rape-for-domination scenario where it's a stranger, but of the remaining 80% it's hard to tell which ones are "bitch owes me 'cause I bought her dinner" and "if I ask her out I can totally rape her and she won't be able to get me arrested 'cause everyone will believe she wanted it." Either way I may actually be *overestimating* how much rape would be left on Federation worlds once the male belief that women owe them sex is essentially eliminated, because that may be a significant part of *most* rape.