Deuteronomy 22:13 If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, 14 And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: 15 Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate: 16 And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; 17 And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. 18 And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him; 19 And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. 20 But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: 21 Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.
This is the context. The society was very different from the US, or from Babel, or Egypt or Sodom and Gomorrah. On the wedding night if the woman were a virgin she is going to bleed on the sheets. The parents are to keep that sheet as evidence that she was a virgin and hold onto it as evidence that this was the case. Now on one hand showing up to the marriage as a virgin was a protection to the woman of being slandered. I assume that 100 shekels of silver was a significant amount. Today it would be about $1,000 but I suspect at the time of Moses in a cash poor society that probably barters it would have been significantly more. On the flip side not being a virgin at the time of your marriage was punishable by death.
22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel. 23 If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; 24 Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.
This is in the city and is adultery. The woman is married to a husband. The assumption was (and probably correct) that since most women were at home someone would hear if she was being raped and screaming. In the Bible there are several accounts of rape, most notably David's daughter was raped and Joseph was accused of rape. The Bible is balanced, it understands some men are evil rapists and some women are also evil and manipulative liars.
25 But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die. 26 But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter: 27 For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.
Here is a reference to rape "he forced her". This is very specific. She was in the field and the assumption was that even if she cried no one would hear her. Now obviously if she had absolutely no business being out in that field it might warrant a further investigation, so the assumption is that not only is she in the field but it is easy to explain why she was in that field. It is interesting that it also says she is betrothed. Why can't she simply be single? My guess is that in this society a single girl would be working closely with her mother and siblings whereas a betrothed damsel might be trying to get things ready for her new married life. If neither of those apply then maybe verse 28 does.
28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
But look at how vague this is. We are not talking about adultery and we are not talking about a girl who is already betrothed. It doesn't tell us if this was consensual or if he forced her. It doesn't say if this is in the field or in the city. The man lay hold on her, so this does indicate the man was clearly the willing partner, but does this mean he forced her? Coerced her, or simply took her hand and ran off into the woods?
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.
There is a lot of wisdom in this. Think of all the men who run around sleeping with women, would they act the same if the very first woman they slept with would automatically become their wife? Likewise with the woman. The bible describes fornication as people playing a game, this law makes it clear, it is no longer a game. You better be sure you want to spend the rest of your life with that person before sleeping with them.
I understand the death penalty for raping a woman if that in turn means she would be stoned to death if she is not a virgin when she is married. But in a society where fornication is the norm and virgins at the time of marriage are the exception to the rule, that does not appear to be righteous. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is a society where adultery is not a criminal offense. Yes, the husband can use that as cause for a divorce, but there is no death penalty for adulterers.
I find it very hypocritical that someone would skip the part about not being a virgin when you get married being a crime punishable by death, and adultery being a crime punishable by death, and would just jump down to demanding that rape be punishable by death.