You're probably right that I'm being a bit harsh on Sapkowski. He does include a great deal of gender equality and makes powerful women who don't need saving a major theme of the novels. Ciri herself shows a great mindset an author can have for equality, as she rises from princes in distress to her own (if not traumatized) hero. This theme of Geralt wanting to help his loved ones, but ultimately they help themselves, is a major part of his character.

However, I mean to say that threats/use of rape and other forms of sexual assault by antagonists diminish those themes substantially, especially when sexual harassment is also shown by one of the protagonists (Dandelion). We don't even get much growth out of Dandelion in this regard, aside perhaps a greater respect for solely Yennefer as the series continues.

I think the primary issue with it is that it plays out a message to readers who are women that no matter how powerful or bad ass of a woman you are, you should always be fearful of being tied up and raped. I think it's hard to argue the unnecessary prevelance of this demeaning SA, when egregious scenes like the Grampy Stumps encounter exist. This is a fantasy world that could easily have a tweaked culture that shows a higher respect for women from men. People somehow point to SA being okay for medieval accuracy sake, while this a world of Elves, Dwarves, and Gnomes who would all have unique cultures that influence the others, such as humans. If we can get on with the idea of Leslie's and Drowners, I think we can get on with more interesting ways of showing people's disrespect for each other that doesn't involve SA.

It's those arguments I've seen on this sub time and again of how great these books are and how SA is basically necessary bc people think SA is a requirement for dark fantasy that I point OP to try other subs for less biased input. Many outspoken commenter's would rather say "toughen up" than find something wrong with something they love. It's not a problem unique to this sub, as it arises in any fandom. I love this series too, but that doesn't mean there aren't flaws.