Rape on Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Which started as a response to a comment on my Faith thread and then got huge on me. Also, it starts out about rape and somehow actually becomes an indirect defense of the way Spike and Buffy's relationship was portrayed in S7. Have no clue how that happened. It's odd.
( Focus on the Spike/Buffy thing at the end, but covers most of the other bases as well. )

So, overall, I don't actually have a problem with ME's treatment of rape. It's a huge, horrible big deal and they treat it as such. At least, I think that's my conclusion. Hell if I know. The whole Buffy/Spike thing kinda came out of nowhere for me.