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In Star Trek 'Day of the Dove', the emotions of the crew were somewhat influenced by an alien presence. They weren't under total or near total control like in 'And the Children Shall Lead'.

It seems that Pavel, who had been influenced to feel more hostile towards Klingons, sexually assaulted a Klingon woman.

Rape

Catching him in the act of what could've been much worse, Capt. Kirk slapped Pavel with an open hand. Spock then defended Pavel, saying that it wasn't really his fault. Kirk looked at Pavel, who had fallen down limp upon being slapped, and exclaimed "what have I done?".

Kirk proceeded to yell at the Klingon woman, then grabbed her by the arm and handed her to Spock. He then carried Pavel in his arms.

What have I done

Is this normal?

Wouldn't sexual assault be handled more seriously on a military vessel? Even if someone were drunk or under the influence of drugs, is it normal that their actions would be immediately dismissed like this?

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    Hollywood notoriously has a bad habit of showing whatever creates the most drama/shock value with little to no regard for whether they're promoting inappropriate behavior. :/
    – RedCaio
    Commented Mar 12, 2016 at 4:34
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    Someone's actions wouldn't be dismissed if they were under the influence of drugs because they made the choice to take the drugs. If somebody slips PCP into your food and you do something insane, you probably won't be disciplined. Also, people under the influence of alcohol aren't dismissed because they are partly in control of their own behavior. But with enough alcohol, who knows?
    – Adamant
    Commented Mar 12, 2016 at 4:40
  • Wouldn't sexual assault be handled more seriously on a military vessel? - in 1968? Seems doubtful.
    – Harry Johnston
    Commented Mar 13, 2016 at 20:57

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There's two things at work here

  • Chekov was clearly "under the influence". Since his actions were not controlled, they can be considered involuntary. Note that earlier in the episode he tried to kill the Klingons because of an imaginary sibling's death.

KIRK: Chekov!

SPOCK: Jim, he's not responsible.

TOS: Day of the Dove

  • Klingon women would generally consider a physical attack to be a sexual overture. No doubt she was offended and shocked at the time but, on reflection she might be either amused or simply find the whole thing humiliating. Neither of those are liable to result in a formal complaint.

B'ETOR: You've done it, Soran.

(Soran punches B'Etor)

B'ETOR: Wait! ...I hope for your sake you were initiating a mating ritual.

Star Trek: Generations

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    True, though even if Klingon women didn't consider violence to be a sexual overture, I think she still would've considered this to be an attempt to force sex. Right before he did it he told her he would delay killing her until after what he was about to do to her because she was beautiful, then covered her mouth and started ripping off her clothes. Two episodes prior he got himself shot due to incontrollable lust. His emotions may have been significantly influenced by the alien, but Scotty, Spock and Kirk were able to snap out of it using willpower. Perhaps Pavel had a predisposition to it.
    – user60653
    Commented Mar 12, 2016 at 23:57

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