28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, that is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; 29 then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her; he may not put her away all his days.
In today's (American, at least) culture, the idea of having a woman marry her rapist is utterly ridiculous and reprehensible. In addition, this has been mentioned multiple times in connection to the debate over homosexuality, particularly homosexual marriage, and always in a negative light. (That is a tangential discussion and is only marginally relevant to this question.) However, I have heard that this practice actually protected the woman as she would now have someone legally responsible for her.
So, my question is: what's the point? Why institute this law?
Answer
And the other critical caveat here: this is only if she wants him to marry her. If she'd rather never see him again, then the Torah never forces her into such a marriage. Additionally, if she wants a divorce, she is still entitled to one whenever she wants even after they wed. (Shulchan Aruch Even HaEzer 177:3)
All I can say -- if this is a situation where she'd be interested in being married to him -- is the Torah was likely discussing a situation of someone who just got their lust out of control. Criminologists will tell you that most rapists today do it out of hatred for women. It seems the Torah wasn't addressing that type of sicko. I've discussed this point with Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski (I was arguing that the warnings against excessive drinking in Proverbs still don't sound like a full-blown alcoholic as we know it today), who pointed out the Gemara (end of Sotah) says the world's been in a state of decline since the destruction of the Temple, and conceded that the world we know today just seems sicker mentally than that of the Torah/Talmud.
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