[Semantics]

Exclusive: U.S. Redefines Rape, Updating an 80-Year-Old Characterization of the Crime


In a sweeping victory for survivors of rape and their advocates, the Justice Department has officially changed the definition of rape used by the FBI to track the crime. The new definition includes male victims for the first time and more closely follows existing criminal codes and state statutes.

The FBI has used the old definition of rape—“the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will”—to track the crime since 1927. Now, more than 80 years later, Attorney General Eric Holder has announced the Uniform Crime Report will define 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 old definition was “narrow, outmoded, steeped in gender-based stereotypes, and seriously understated the true incidence of serious sex crimes,” a Women’s Law Project Press Release stated.

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