Last week the FBI voted unanimously to change its definition of rape. This is the best news I’ve heard in weeks.
The FBI’s current definition of rape, “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will,” has been in place since 1929: more than 80 years ago! “Outdated” is an understatement here, and it’s an extremely narrow and hugely flawed definition.
Most inaccurate is the idea that rape can only happen to women, when in fact about 10 percent of rape victims are male, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. This definition also excludes instances of anal or oral rape, statutory rape, as well as other methods of assault. Thirdly, it requires the use of physical force, opposed to other methods of coercion, therefore eliminating cases of date rape, where the need for physical forces is replaced with the use of drugs or alcohol.
To put it another way, this is similar to only counting homicide cases that involve guns. A murder is a murder, regardless of the method or weapon. Rape is the same way, and the FBI is finally coming to see that idea.
Rape and sexual assault are much bigger problems than most people realize, and the FBI’s underreporting, thanks to its outdated definition of rape, has only aided that misconception. The FBI’s 2010 Uniform Crime Report indicates that about 89,000 “forcible rapes” were reported to police. The United States Department of Justice National Crime Victimization Survey indicates that there were more than 200,000 cases of rape and sexual assault — more than twice what the FBI reported. Part of this huge discrepancy can be attributed to the large number of rapes that go unreported, which is a topic for another column, but part of it is a direct result of what the FBI considers rape.
The FBI’s “forcible rape” terminology excludes a huge percentage of sexual assaults. For example, nearly a quarter of the rapes reported by the New York Police Department in 2010 weren’t recognized as “forcible rape” by the FBI, and therefore weren’t entered into federal report figures. Meanwhile, the Chicago Police Department operates on a more comprehensive definition of rape than the FBI, and therefore none — that’s right, NONE — of its nearly 1,400 rapes were included in federal reports.
The proposed new definition would read, “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.” This is a huge improvement on the previous definition. It covers pretty much every kind of rape there is. This will, of course, cause a jump in recorded rapes, but this jump will set the new baseline for future, more accurate reporting of rape and sexual assault.
The new definition won’t be formally put into place until early December, but it’s a huge step forward. By broadening the definition of rape, hopefully law enforcement, and society in general, will begin to give voices to rape victims.
