Free US Law Dictionary

Rape

Rape is an assault where a person has sexual intercourse with another person without their consent. In some jurisdictions the term rape is used to define other forms of sexual assault. Rape is generally considered one of the most serious sex crimes. The rate of reporting, prosecution and convictions for rape varies considerably in different jurisdictions. The systematic rape of a civilian population by an occupying army is considered a war crime. Consent may be absent due to duress. The victim may be subject to or threatened by overwhelming force or violence. The victim may also not have the capacity to give consent. Capacity to give consent can be negated by developmental disability, intoxication or being underage.

There is no universally accepted distinction between rape and other forms of assault involving one or both participant's sexual organs. When the term "rape" is used, some criminal codes explicitly consider all kinds of forced sexual activity to be rape, whereas in others only acts involving penis penetration of the vagina. In recent years, women have been convicted of raping men; this is classed as either rape or sexual assault, or some other legal terminology. In some jurisdictions, rape may also be committed by assailants using objects, rather than their own body parts, against the sexual organs of their target.[1] Some places, such as the U.S. state of Michigan, do not use the term "rape" at all in criminal codes. Michigan uses the term "criminal sexual conduct" for acts which colloquially would be referred to as "rape" or "sexual assault".[2]

The rape of women by men is by far the most frequent form of the assault, with an estimated 91% of rape victims being female and 9% being male while 99% of offenders are male.[3]