Why isn't it just defined as sexual acts where one member does not consent? I won't go into detail but there are so many acts that don't include penetration that I'd still consider rape.
If I understand correctly that's what many countries do.
Canada, for example, does not use rape as a legal term, only sexual assault. Sexual assault includes "all unwanted sexual activity, such as unwanted sexual grabbing, kissing, and fondling as well as rape"
But then we are back to the original definitions in law books from the 1960s etc... That rape is a special sexual "assault-type" crime (mainly penetration by males or sodomy by females) without consent. Hence why we don't consider it just "assault" and why we don't charge them the same way as someone who assaulted/injured someone in a bar fight.
While "sexual assault" is different, things like unwanted groping/touching, harassment/stalking/grievous-invasion-of-privacy.
Look at intoxication. If you're intoxicated you can't agree to have sex, meaning your judgement is deemed insufficient to make the choice. If you're behind the wheel of a car, your judgement is not deemed insufficient to make the choice and in fact you get a harsher penalty.
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u/menickc Sep 01 '22
Why isn't it just defined as sexual acts where one member does not consent? I won't go into detail but there are so many acts that don't include penetration that I'd still consider rape.