Just like with UK spy cops, it's, rightly, considered rape to have sex with someone under false pretences... But this is the CIA we're talking about, I'm sure they've committed atrocities they themselves would consider to be rape.
What are you talking about? Rape is forced sex. Lying to someone about who you are is not use of force.
[1]https://www.law.cornell.edu/women-and-justice/resource/assan...
According to the very article you link to his wearing of a condom was only an aggravating circumstance, and not the primary reason for the charge of rape.
The primary reason was that he had sex with the woman while she was asleep, in a helpless state (in which she could not give consent).
Here's the full quote:
"Mr. Assange visited Sweden to give a lecture. He had sexual relations with two women there. In the home of the injured party, Assange deliberately consummated sexual intercourse with her by improperly exploiting that she, due to sleep, was in a helpless state. It is an aggravating circumstance that Assange, who was aware that it was the expressed wish of the injured party and a prerequisite of sexual intercourse that a condom be used, still consummated unprotected sexual intercourse with her. The sexual act was designed to violate the injured party's sexual integrity. Mr. Assange was accused of rape. Allegedly, the women agreed to sex on the condition Mr. Assange wear a condom. He did not do so throughout intercourse. Although the English courts had previously ruled that one cannot give conditional consent, in order to be able to allow extradition to Sweden, the Supreme Court ruled that his actions would constitute a crime under English law - thus allowing conditional consent to become valid in English law."
And to describe even just the aggravating circumstance described here as merely "not wearing a condom" omits that the reason for it being a problem: because Assange knew the woman would not have sex without a condom.
So (if true) there are 2 reasons to think he was having sex without consent, which is rape.
> The primary reason was
Assange was not charged. Please stop spreading this falsehood.
Yes, you did.
No victims, nor officials, have accused him of any such thing. The arrest warrant that was issued was because he was wanted for questioning/investigation, and the direct statements of the women involved in the matter are very illuminating.
Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rape
The key point being "valid consent" and its contravention by deception. i.e. It's not valid if what you are consenting to is a lie, namely who you think you are having sex with.
The problem with that definition is that it doesn’t define what kinds of deception are sufficient to make sex qualify as rape.
Does any lie automatically turn sex into rape, or are there limits, e.g. only if you lie about working for the state?
Why for example would not disclosing that you are a cop be different from not disclosing that you are a doctor or an engineer?
This entire idea that merely lying about who you before sex are constitutes rape is simply not true.
Certain deceptions may be crimes, but that is completely different.
If you have sex with someone because you think you're in love with them and they're in love with you, but in fact they're not who you thought they were but they're just putting on an act, don't love you, and are using you then it's most definitely rape because you haven't given consent to have sex with someone you don't actually know and who's deceiving you in the most despicable way.
What turns it into villainy is the explicit intent to deceive for nefarious purposes, but calling it rape feels like a serious dilution of the word