There have been many cases over the last decade where women have sought compensation for sexual encounters going back years. Aside from the merits of the cases they have brought – isn’t it unreasonable to have third parties determine how much the sex act itself was worth without being provided some standards to work with? The accusations have ranged from offensive language, fondling to much more egregious acts

Several examples over the last few years have laid out in court the specific acts that the ‘survivor’, while making a legitimate effort to advance their careers, felt they were forced to submit to. In some cases the same specific acts occurred on multiple occasions. When they are able to itemize the number and types of violations they felt subjected to, wouldn’t it help to have written standards of compensation for various sex acts – whether forced or voluntary that makes it easier to determine base damages. In those frequent instances where the sex acts occurred years ago, or on multiple occasions, the rates could be based on a standard rate for the location of the incident at the time of the occurrence(s) adjusted for inflation.

Working from that base rate, a jury or judge could have add-ons for the additional circumstances justifying punitive damages, or prison if felt to be warranted. This would not be unlike insurance companies paying for a death in an airplane crash where there are actuarial tables to determine the base value of the victim’s life including age and earning capacity, with add-ons for suffering if the death was not instantaneous, or gross negligence, etc.

There is also something that cries out as unfair when a woman who was fondled in the dressing room of an exclusive department store is compensated for hundreds of times the value of a hotel sex worker allowing the same act in a local hotel. In those cases where it is involuntary and there are damages such as mental health treatments, those would certainly be justified add-ons in addition to punitive damages and prison.