A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion is a scientific history book published in 2000 by biologist Randy Thornhill and anthropologist Craig T. Palmer, which argues that rape

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

 should be understood through evolutionary psychology. Thornhill and Palmer believe that the capacity for rape is either an adaptation or a byproduct of adaptative traits such as sexual desire and aggressiveness. This hypothesis is controversial. Susan Brownmiller

Susan Brownmiller

Susan Brownmiller is an American feminist, journalist, author, and activist. She is best known for her pioneering work on the politics of rape in her 1975 book Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape, Brownmiller argues that rape had been hitherto defined by men rather than women; and that men use,...

 debated Thornhill and Palmer's theory with them on American public radio.

See also

• Coercive sex in animals
• Sociobiological theories of rape
  Sociobiological theories of rape
  Sociobiological theories of rape are theories that explore to what degree, if any, evolutionary adaptations influence the psychology of rapists. Such theories are highly controversial, as traditional theories typically do not consider rape to be a behavioral adaptation. Some object to such theories...
  
  

External links

• Human Nature: Born or Made?- NYTimes
• What Provokes a Rapist to Rape?; Scientists Debate Notion of an Evolutionary Drive- NYTimes