Adolescent rape often involves coercion rather than forcible sexual intercourse and is usually instigated by friends, neighbors, or family members. Adolescents are more likely to be raped than are women in other age groups, to experience severe mental and emotional trauma, and to have difficulty in seeking help. Recovery of restitution from the rapist would both serve as a deterrent and provide the victim with the ability to seek needed counseling and support to regain lost autonomy and self-esteem. In civil cases the issue often becomes one of consent. In most States the victim, in contrast to victims of other crimes, must persuade the court that she did not consent. However, the defendant should be required to prove that the victim had willingly consented. In addition, piggybacking tort statutes allowing civil recovery onto criminal rape laws would allow the victims to recover automatically in cases where a criminal conviction had already occurred. Uniting the civil and criminal actions would enhance the victim's ability to recover and encourage the victim to try to recover. It would also help recognize the degree of social opprobrium that should be attached to the crime of rape. 292 footnotes.