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25 Aug 2021

You will have heard of rape and sexual assault as being two of the most severe crimes that can be committed in the UK. There is always a lot of media coverage on cases involving rape and sexual assault. The national statistics show that women are the main victims of rape and sexual assault, and there has been an increase in the number of rapes and sexual assaults in recent years, with 20% of women having suffered some form of sexual assault and 4% of men having suffered sexual assault. The statistics show that women are targeted more than men. If you are a victim of rape or sexual assault or know of anyone who is a victim, contact ABV Solicitors where our expert team of solicitors will be able to assist you, take on your case and provide professional and friendly advice and guidance throughout the process. Your sexual offence solicitor will understand that it is a sensitive and traumatic matter and therefore will be able to suggest additional support to you.

Differences between rape and sexual assault

So how are rape and sexual assault different to one another? A sexual offence solicitor will be able to explain to you that the difference can be seen from the legal definition of each offence. Rape has been legally defined as the penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth with the penis and the victim has not given consent to this. In comparison, sexual assault by penetration is the penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth with any other part of the body that is not the penis and/or with an object, without the victim’s consent.

The concept of sexual assault by penetration is relatively new. A sexual offence solicitor will be able to tell you that initially rape was the only sexual assault offence that existed and if the crime committed did not fall within the legal definition of rape there was no valid case. This meant that a lot of criminals were committing sexual offences, but they were being set free and getting away with their crime, as there was not an offence in existence in law that could punish them.

The laws relating to rape have also changed in recent years. Initially rape could only be committed against women and did not include penetration of the mouth or anus. The idea that rape is committed by penetration using a penis has stayed the same. Another change that was introduced after the 1990s is that women can claim to have been raped by their husbands. This was a new concept as originally marital rape was not considered rape – it was the law’s understanding that a husband is entitled to have sexual intercourse with his wife, without her consent. Often women suffered at the hands of violent husbands who raped them repeatedly, but they were unable to get any justice for themselves as the law did not recognise this as a crime. This has now changed as we can see that there is more protection for women in these circumstances.