Under British Law can a woman be charged and convicted of rape the same way that a man can?

Question

Bearing in mind that a woman is not anatomically equipped the same way that a man is. Can a woman be convicted of rape in the same way that a man can?

Answer 1

Hi, I'm foo_fighters_fan_2002's housemate. His answer was deleted by yahoo for 'adult material' apparently. Can't see the offence myself but there you go.

Anyway, heres his answer:

"No. Rape, under the sexual offences act 2003 is the non consensual penetration of the mouth anus or vagina with a penis. Women cannot be charged/ convicted of rape. They can be charged with other sexual offences though, such as sexual assault etc, but anybody that tells you a woman can be convicted of rape is wrong. Dont believe me? (because for some reason people are giving my answers a thumbs down when they are perfectly correct) check out s1(1) of the sexual offences act 2003 on www.opsi.gov.uk and see what it defines rape as. To the person above me, that still wouldnt be rape, for reasons explained. The woman would be charged with Assault by penetration under s2 of the SOA2003.

I challenge anybody to tell me I'm wrong, seeing as how numpties that apparently dont know a thing about law are thumbs downing my answers to questions when they are perfectly correct. Everyone else here has got it wrong. I suggest before answering questions on law you familiarise yourselves with the concepts and/ or look at the relevant legislation.

Candy G - Look at the SOA03. That is the authority for sexual offences. Surely i dont need to explain that it is an act of parliament and an act of parliament is the highest domestic law in the land? I'll even copy and paste it here for you:

'1 Rape

(1) A person (A) commits an offence if-

(a) he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person (B) with his penis,
(b) B does not consent to the penetration, and
(c) A does not reasonably believe that B consents.
(2) Whether a belief is reasonable is to be determined having regard to all the circumstances, including any steps A has taken to ascertain whether B consents.

(3) Sections 75 and 76 apply to an offence under this section.

(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life.'

Notice how it defines rape as being WITH HIS PENIS. Now if im not mistaken, women dont have penises. As I've said, consult the authorities before making a numpty of yourself.


Maddass - It would appear that the articles in wikipedia that you linked refer to the US law, not the UK. Maybe this is where mine and everyone else’s conflict lies.

Shady Sam- I cannot believe that you are trying to tell me that an act of parliament is wrong. Christ even the courts dont have that power. You've kind of said the offences the woman can be charged with; aiding and abetting blah blah blah, which isnt charged under section 1.

Joe N – Nice try, but that news report you linked us to was from 2001, BEFORE the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Thank you."

All his words not mine.

Answer 2

Foo fight is wrong and receives a thumbs down from me. His mistake was to look at one section in isolation instead of looking at the whole picture. Even where an offence has a particular ingredient which you didn't do (eg put your penis anywhere), you can still be convicted of it if you helped someone else. A good example would be if you held someone down whilst your friend stabbed him. You didn't kill the guy, your friend did, but you helped and you're guilty too.

Here's a link to a real world example of a woman being convicted of rape:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1225124.stm

EDIT

OK, the fact is that a woman CAN'T be convicted of rape if she jumps on a man and has sex with him against his will. If she helps a man rape someone else, then she can be convicted of rape under the normal laws of criminal joint enterprise.

Answer 3

no, a woman committing that sort of thing would be committing assault by penetration, sexual assault or causing another to engage in sexual activity. The crime of rape can only be committed by a MAN with his P.... the reason for this is that S1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 state the word p...which obviously can only mean a man, hence the creation of the other 3 crimes in order to try and close the loopholes in the law before 2003. Sexual assault replaced the crime previously known as indecent assault

OH and BY THE WAY
Foo-fight is correct, all you other people don't know what you're talking about, go and have a look at the act on the link below if you don't believe it!!!!

Answer 4

Although not able to be convicted of the rape as such... rape consists of a penetration with a PENIS/Surgically reconstructed PENIS (to include gender reassigned) of the mouth/anus/vagina...therefore as you can see a woman can not comit rape as she does not have the relevant equipment so to speak... however the woman if assisting can be convicted of aiding and abetting the rape which carries the same sentance as rape this could be where the confusion comes from.

Also if she is penetrating someone with an instrument she can be convicted of this offence (the sentace is the same as rape)

Hope this helps

Answer 5

The person above who said "no" and quoted the Sexual Offences Act 2003 is actually wrong.

A woman CAN be charged with Rape under Section 1 of that Act is she aids, abets, counsels or procures a male to penetrate a female with his penis.

Women are charged and convicted of rape, but it is rare

Answer 6

yes under british law there is no real distinction now, the same rules apply. This is due to two things 1. the term "rape" is basically the method not the act. 2. sex discrimination does not allow a distinction in gender. Men rape men, women rape women and so on. Rape is a crime regardless of gender but it is less likely to be reported by a man because of the stigma attached to it.http://www.aest.org.uk/survivors/male/myths_about_male_rape.htm The law in the uk was changed in august 2006 after 2 succsessful appeals by male rape victims in the EU court of human rights. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_rape_research#Rape_of_males_by_females oh and foo you have a reasonable argument shame you felt the need to insult everybody else in putting it forward.

Answer 7

foo fight is wrong, YES females can and have been charged with rape..........go back about 15 / 20 years and two females where charged with the holding captive and raping of a Mormon bloke over from the USA in the UK..............I have a feeling the charges where upheld in this case but much was made about it not being possible for a man to be raped........but its like the reverse argument of IF a female has an orgasm during a rape does that mean she enjoyed it...........OF COURSE NOT............pretty much any female can get a guys willy up and jump on which is what happened in the above mentioned case...............does not mean that he really wanted it etc etc........

Answer 8

I think that it has already happened a long time ago, however, before the feminists took control of the legal profession. Technically, how could you rape a man who wasn't willing? Perhaps, if he was drunk, took one look at the woman the next day, and said, "I was too drunk to give consent". Maybe they could be accused of raping each other whilst drunk.

The dictionary definition doesnt support 'happy' conclusion.

Answer 9

I asked this very question to a police officer who said that its not possible unless the woman uses some kind of "tool".

Answer 10

Yes, because the law describes rape as sexual assault, which can include, pentration and ejaculation, but not exclusively...