ABOUT SEX & THE LAW: INTERPRETING THE LANGUAGE OF SEX-RELATED CRIMES
Sex is why we are here. Out parents, lovingly or not, procreated us by performing a sex act. There is nothing wrong with consenting adults having sex for pleasure or as Pablo Neruda said, to fulfill marital obligations. What is not acceptable is any type of sexual assault, rape, forced sexual activities, human trafficking, and all such crimes.
What primarily motivates this publication is our love for languages. The fact that, even sixty or more years after the so-called sexual revolution, we still cannot approach the subject without hesitancy also drives us to write about it, albeit from a purely legal point of view.
Unfortunately, sex crimes continue to this date. If we were to consider the epidemic of domestic violence, the high number of females who are killed, disfigured, or gravely injured by men who still think them to be their property, of women who are forced into prostitution, and of girls who are corrupted by drugs into a form of sexual slavery, the number would be alarming.
At some point in our careers as interpreters or translators we will come to an assignment that involves a sex crime. Our work must be informed by an ethical and professional behavior that will preclude our taking sides. If the victim uses four-letter words to describe her assailant, our interpretation must also use palabrotas o malas palabras.
If lawyers, judges, or officers of the court use the high-register language of the law, we must use the equivalent terms when interpreting. For this reason, we have researched the penal codes of Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Costa Rica, Argentina, Paraguay, and Spain, as well as California, Texas, Illinois, Virginia, and Florida.
CONTENTS: TYPES OF SEX CRIMES. STANDARD, COLLOQUIAL, AND SLANG TERMINOLOGY: MALE & FEMALE SEX ORGANS, SEX ACT, WITH A TRANSLATION EXERCISE. DOCUMENTATION: CODIGOS PENALES DE MEXICO, COLOMBIA, ARGENTINA, ESPAÑA, CUBA, COSTA RICA, REPUBLICA DOMINICANA, BOLIVIA Y PARAGUAY. PENAL CODES OF CALIFORNIA, TEXAS, ILLINOIS, VIRGINIA, AND FLORIDA MEXICO SCREENING QUESTIONNAIRE OF RAPE VICTIM AND OTHER TYPICAL INTAKE QUESTIONS, INTAKE OR SCREENING QUESTIONS BY AMERICAN ATTORNEYS, COMMON QUESTIONS OF A DOCTOR BY THE DEFENSE GLOSSARIES: STANDARD ENGLISH/SPANISH SEX TERMINOLOGY, COLLOQUIAL SPANISH/ENLGISH SEX TERMS FROM LATIN AMERICA AND SPAIN. LINKS TO SEX CRIMES VIDEOS TO PRACTICE INTERPRETING AND TO BOOKS ON DIALECTS, REGIONALISMS, AND SLANG OF 13 SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES, AS WELL AS MEDICAL AND LEGAL DICTIONARIES.