Definitions of rape

This article is about a form of sexual assault. For other uses, see Rape (disambiguation).

Rape is a form of assault involving the non-consensual use of the sexual organs of another person's body. The "other person" can be a man or woman, as can the assailant.

Rape is generally considered one of the most serious sex crimes and can be very difficult to prosecute. Consent may be absent due to duress arising from the use, or threat, of overwhelming force or violence, or because the subject is incapacitated in some way, typically by intoxication. In some cases, coercion might also be used to negate consent.

There is no universally accepted distinction between rape and other forms of assault involving one or both participant's sexual organs. Some criminal codes explicitly consider all kinds of forced sexual activity to be rape, whereas in others only acts involving a coupled penis and vagina are included. Some restrict rape only to instances where a woman is forced by a man. Other assaults involving sexual organs in some way may then be grouped under the term sexual assault.

Of course, in some jurisdictions, a rape may also be committed by assailants using objects other than their own body parts against the sexual organs of their target. In recent years, there have been more instances of men filing claims of rape against women assailants.