FBI definition of rape changed, now includes males as victims

The U.S. Department of Justice has changed the definition of “forcible rape” to include men and the type of sexual assault.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Report spells out the changes, allowing more people to be able to report rape as a crime.

Before, the FBI defined rape as the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.

The new definition does not reference  males or females and states; “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.”

Mount Pleasant Police Department Public Information Officer Jeff Browne said he does not typically see men reporting sexual assault.

“From my experience, most men don’t report because of embarrassment,” he said. “In the 14 years I’ve been an officer, I’ve never taken a sexual assault case with a man.”

Director of Sexual Aggression Services Stephen Thompson said the new definition will have a major effect in those states that do not classify male assault as a sex crime.

The number of victims could increase, he said, because the broader definition will increase the number of people who will be identified as sex crime survivors or victims.

“Michigan has had model laws since 1975,” Thompson said. “These changes bring federal law and definitions more in-line with Michigan. The main difference now is Michigan recognizes contact with breast, genital, buttock area as a sex crime, (but) the feds still only recognize penetration.”

The best way victims and survivors come forward is when they feel people will listen and believe them, Thompson said.

If the perception by survivors is that people will listen, then yes, more will come forward, he said.

Regardless of definitions, the public needs to understand the realities of sexual aggression from a knowledge base of fact and not operate from an attitudinal base formulated by myths, Thompson said.

“Education is the key,” Browne said. “Victims blame themselves, and more people need to try and understand their stories.”