criminal-law rape sexual-assault
Is it rape if it is a woman on a girl?
<p>Now I don't fully understand what has happened to me. Yes I know what sex is. I know what rape is it's when a man forces a woman to have sex with him.</p>

<p>But the other night I was at a friend's house with my two best friends. When one of them had to temporarily leave to go help a relative, my other friend was still at the house with me and we were the only two there. Out of nowhere she started kissing me. I pushed her back and asked her what she was doing; she said she loved me but it didn't come off loving when she threw me down and ripped my clothes off against my will and stuck something in me and I don't even know what it was also she touched my breast and I said stop.</p>

<p>My family wants to call it rape but since we're both female how is that possible? </p>

<p>The definition of what kind of interaction constitutes rape is normally defined by statute or by case law, which can vary somewhat from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. </p>

<p>Typically, "penetration" for sexual gratification secured by force would constitute rape, regardless of the gender of the perpetrator. </p>

<p>Typically, "penetration" does not cease to be rape because it is not accomplished with a male penis.</p>

<p>For statistical purposes, the United States Department of Justice <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_in_the_United_States" rel="noreferrer">defines rape</a> as:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>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.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>What you describe sounds like something that would qualify as rape under most jurisdiction's definitions of that crime.</p>

<p>None of the exceptions to the U.S. Department of Justice's definition of rape (e.g. legitimate medical examination or a law enforcement cavity search where one is authorized by law) apply in this case.</p>

<p>Even if a particular jurisdiction didn't classify this as rape (and the vast majority would), most would, at a minimum, classify this as sexual battery (i.e. forcible sexual contact not amounting to rape under the local definition), or simple battery (i.e. forcible contact without permission that is not necessarily sexual).</p>

<p>Of course, even if it meets the legal definition of rape, a prosecutor or law enforcement who is accustomed to thinking of rape as exclusively a male upon female crime could balk at prosecuting the incident as rape, something that can be hard to get them to take seriously and prosecute when acquaintances are involved even in opposite sex couples. Law enforcement and prosecutors have broad discretion regarding which crimes they prosecute and for which charge. </p>

<p>About 1% of people arrested for committing rape are female, and while some of those cases involve materially aiding and abetting a male perpetrator (e.g. by holding down a victim while the male perpetrator engaged in the act), some of those arrests involve the fact pattern that you describe. </p>

<p>In part, the low rate of female arrest for rape arises from the fact that women commit violent acts, in general, at a much lower rate than men. The low rate of female arrest for rape also almost surely involves underreporting of rapes committed by women against women, in part, because women are less likely to conceptualize what they have experienced as rape and, in part, because law enforcement is often insensitive or dismissive of these charges in many places.</p>

<p>The law seems to be different in the US to the UK.</p>

<p><strong>Under UK law</strong>, this is covered by the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/contents" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>Sexual Offences Act, 2003</strong></a>, and there are 3 main categories of sexual assault</p>

<ul>
<li><strong>Rape</strong> (<a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/section/1" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>Section 1</strong></a>)<br>
Penetration of any bodily orifice by the penis without consent<br>
(Maximum Penalty of Life Imprisonment whether against an adult or child)</li>
<li><strong>Sexual Assault by Penetration</strong> (<a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/section/2" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>Section 2</strong></a>)<br>
Penetration of any bodily orifice by anything other than a penis without consent<br>
(Maximum Penalty of Life Imprisonment whether against an adult or child)</li>
<li><strong>Sexual Assault</strong> (<a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/section/3" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>Section 3</strong></a>)<br>
Any other sexual contact  without consent<br>
(Maximum Penalty of 10 years against an adult or 14 years against a child)</li>
</ul>

<p>Therefore, <strong>a woman cannot rape anyone under UK law</strong>, but can commit Sexual Assault by Penetration which carries the same maximum potential sentence (Life Imprisonment).</p>

<p>What you describe seems to fit the UK definition of <strong>Sexual Assault by Penetration</strong> (a contravention of Section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act, 2003).</p>
