[imustadmit]

Flashing your wanger at someone passing by isn't really sexual assault though.

I've been flashed by a drunk guy, I gave a surprised chuckle and walked away. My mum was flashed when some weirdo jumped into the back garden and started showing his stuff to her through the kitchen window; she chased him away with a sword.

Neither of us thought for one minute we'd been sexually assaulted, and these instances just became amusing stories. Unfortunately it seems that doing similar in the USA is no laughing matter.

[AlexCoventry]

If your typical teenage girl was inclined and legally allowed to carry a sword and wield it against assailants, it's possible I would agree with you. They're not, though, and we should be glad to live in a society where no one needs to and sane people generally don't want to.

The implied threat of potential rape makes flashing a young women at least as violent as a credible threat to beat someone within an inch of their life.

I'm sympathetic to ReformedFelonForHire's situation, and regard this humiliating punishment as extreme, unnecessary and destructive to the fabric of society, but I don't think that means we should minimize the harm of his error.