What is rape? What is sexual assault?
The short answer.
(This is a lead-in to a comprehensive discussion. The long answer is here.)
- Rape: Defining Rape and Sexual Assault
RINJ Defines Rape as:
the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.
The RINJ Foundation defines sexual assault as:
any forced, unwanted, non consensual sexual contact or activity.
- Note about FGM: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a violent sexual assault of a high order of criminality at many levels. FGM is usually committed against female babies, children, or women, without consent. The claimed purpose of the crime of FGM is protection of personal property inasmuch as the female is considered to be a chatel or ‘property’ and the alleged “protection” of FGM is the curbing of female promiscuity since the vicious attack on the genitals damages many nerve endings thus destroying sexual pleasure and blunting libido. This is a crime equal to or greater than rape in its violence and consequences. It is a sinister conduct practiced all over the world in concealed places. The perpetrators of FGM are often performing the FGM violence on many victims and therefore the sentencing for FGM criminals should reflect the impact of the crime. Some countries have legislated FGM as a crime and others have not and in those cases it must be treated as a serious sexual assault crime.
Even if you did not resist, or were intoxicated, or know the person, any forced, unwanted, non consensual sexual contact or activity is a sex crime and any form of penetration makes it a crime of rape.
If someone has threatened, coerced, forced, intimidated, compelled you in any way to have intercourse, even if you were forced to say “yes”, that is a rape crime.
If you were asleep, intoxicated, incapacitated by other means, it would still be rape.
Unwanted sexual contact is a major assault crime. Any act that impugns the safety of the person in any manner whatsoever, anywhere on earth, is a crime, but based on the victim-impact-consequences a sexual assault can never be considered a summary/misdemeanor/minor crime. The safety of the person from this form of crime is an inalienable human right.