First of all, you seem to have missed the first part of my post. Nobody here is "defending rape". We are talking about the inclusion of a theme as a driving element in a story, not about something happening being a good thing. I am not defending murder, yet I like to read a crime story. Murder is horrible, as is rape, there's no two opinions here, and perpetrators should be hunted down and punished. However, both can work as elements in a story. As long as you do not see the difference, there is little use in talking.
That being said, crime and other background information can add motivation, it can stir emotions. Whether or not you like these emotions in a "I am entertained" way will depend on you, the emotion, the reason for the emotion, how it is presented. But the amount of beloved characters in movies, TV, books, AVNs getting it bad, being killed, mutilated, getting sick, heartbroken, and, yes, raped should show that it works as a story element. We love and care about characters, yet the authors put them into a modern retelling of the Book of Job. Is this always bad? Or can't it serve the purpose of making a story more interesting?