Cultural, Political, and Legal Discourse on Sexual Violence against Women in Poland. A Study Based on the Example of the Offence of Rape
Cultural, Political, and Legal Discourse on Sexual Violence against Women in Poland. A Study Based on the Example of the Offence of Rape

Summary/Abstract: The material scope of the analysis undertaken in the text focuses on selected problems of sexual violence against women in Poland. Special emphasis is laid on presenting the discourse on the offence of rape, with three perspectives distinguished: cultural, political and legal. The discourse and its various forms are understood as specific performative social practices that not only describe, but also produce meanings and order them. As for the main rationale behind the study, it is to analyse sexual violence in Poland by juxtaposing cultural, political and legal discourses, with a particular focus on the change in the scope of the criminalisation of the offence of rape in 2025, and its relevance for the understanding of the victim’s sexual autonomy, consent and subjectivity from the perspective of the post-Foucauldian 'apparatus of sexuality' and the dogmatic interpretation of criminal law. Given the necessity to elaborate the material scope, the following questions have been presented in the text: (1) How do cultural and political discourses in Poland problematise the offence of rape, and what consequences does this problematisation have for the understanding of the sexual autonomy, consent and credibility of the victim's experience within the 'apparatus of sexuality'? (2) How does the legal discourse in Poland problematise the offence of rape, including the 2025 amendment of Article 197 of the Criminal Code, and what consequences does this problematisation have for the understanding of sexual autonomy, consent and evidence criteria within the 'apparatus of sexuality'? The methodology employed is illustrative and combines two approaches: a post-Foucauldian discourse analysis, focused on power-knowledge relation; and an institutional-legal analysis, based on a dogmatic interpretation of legislative changes, taking into account their application practices and doctrinal positions.

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