Facts: At midnight, sometime in March 1996, the victim, Sofia Balena, a single mother of a 1-year and five month old son, was awakened from sleep when she felt somebody fondling her breasts. She opened her eyes and readily identified the accused, Efren Buendia, the common-law husband of her sister. Buendia was naked and was poking a knife at her face, threatening to kill her. Thereafter, the accused succeeded in having carnal knowledge of her three times. A charge for rape was filed and accused was convicted. Buendia alleged that there was no sincere struggle or a determined effort on the part of the victim to repel the sexual attack and preserve her virtue.
Issue: Whether there was sufficient resistance on the part of the victim so as to constitute the act as rape.
Held: Rape is perpetrated when the accused has carnal knowledge of the victim through the use of force or intimidation. The resistance of the victim is NOT an element of rape, and it need not be established by the prosecution. The failure of the victim to shout or to offer tenacious resistance does not make the sexual congress voluntary. Rape victims have no uniform reaction, some may offer strong resistance; others may be too intimidated to offer any resistance at all. In the present case, the victim categorically stated that she was cowed into submission because of the knife pointed at her.
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