Rape by sex

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Main article: Types of rape

This article classifies types of rape by sex for both the rapist and his or her victim. While gender preferences do play a role in rape, the types of rape listed here are primarily classified by sex rather than by gender.

Contents 1 Rape of females by males 2 Rape of females by females 3 Rape of males by males 4 Rape of males by females 4.1 Statutory female on male rape 4.2 Non statutory female on male rape 5 References

[edit] Rape of females by males

This is the most common type of rape. From a 2000 research from the Home Office, in England and Wales around 1 in 20 women (4.9%) admitted to have been raped sometime in her life from the age of 16.^[1] A woman's physiological responses to sexual contact are involuntary and in no way imply consent. A woman can become aroused, lubricate, and even orgasm against her will during a rape. ^[2] Furthermore, even if orgasm during rape is intensely physically pleasurable for the victim, it can lead to great stress afterwards if the victim comes to associate physical pleasure with the trauma of rape.^{[citation needed]} Feminists generally prefer to describe male rape of females in terms of power rather than sexuality, much like male-male rape is dissociated from homosexuality (a stronger person asserting their power over a weaker person).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Rape of females by females

Female-female rape is just beginning to be researched by psychologists. In the USA, what constitutes female-female rape is defined on a state by state basis. Female-female rape can occur against women of any sexuality. As in male-male rape, the victim of female-female rape is not necessarily homosexual simply because she is the target of assault by a woman.

As in male-male prison rape, a number of authors have noted that women rape other women in prison.

Lori Girshick explores female-female sexual assault in her book Woman-to-Woman Sexual Violence: Does She Call it Rape? (ISBN 1555535275). Justine Chang and Armand Kaye explore the subject in the documentary film, She Stole My Voice. The Network/La Red is a non-profit organization dedicated to the issue of lesbian domestic violence.

Rape can also be committed by responsible female elders against daughters or female wards, which is parental incest. Bobbie Rosencrans, a victim of mother-daughter incest and co-author of The Last Secret: Daughters Sexually Abused by Mothers (1997, ISBN 1884444369), a study of 93 women and 9 men sexually abused by their mothers claims she was flooded with responses from female subjects when she began her study. Other researchers in the counseling field have noted similar responses from victims though along with persistent attempts to stifle, or to hold back research into mother-daughter incest and sexual abuse.

It is estimated in the United States that 3-10% of all serious sexual offenses are female-female in nature. Researchers in the counseling professions believe that female-on-female sexual offenses are significantly under-reported. There is also evidence to suggest that sexual offenses committed by females against females are actively concealed and/or denied by both the offenders themselves and the wider population. However, due to the lack of substantial evidence provided in these cases, female on female rape is often misconstrued as actual rape when in fact it is only statutory assault in many states. These states include California, New York and South Dakota.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Rape of males by males

For more details on this topic, see Male Rape Research.

There is an effort to move the (already deleted) bulk of this section to Male Rape Research.

Male on male rape is common in incestuous rape, and other situations, (such as prison or other similar settings) where men and boys are dependent on elder males and/or are unable to escape stronger males. Since the United States Uniform Crime Report statistics are considered unreliable (see discussion[s] above) regarding rape in general, regarding the sex of the victims (in some states rape of males is considered impossible by the law), and regarding the sex of the victimizer, no reliable statistics on male-male rape can be taken from these crime statistics, despite their official nature.

What can be estimated from the Uniform Crime Report rape statistics is that rape of males, by both sexes, represents a minimum of about 10% of all rapes.^{[citation needed]} However, since there is no known uniform sex-neutral data on all forms of rape it is impossible to distinguish how many males were raped by males versus those males raped by females.

When a male is raped (by a male or female) the involuntary physiological response of erection or orgasm cannot be taken to imply that the act was welcomed by the victim. A capable assailant, male or female, can induce these involuntary physical responses in the majority of males with force and/or with deception.^{[citation needed]}

Male-on-male rape does not imply homosexuality in the case of either party. Even if the victim shows signs of sexual stimulation during the experience, this has nothing to do with his established sex preference, any more than a female victim can be said to subconsciously enjoy her position if she orgasms. It only indicates a positive response to touching of sexual areas, much as can happen with non-autosexual masturbation performed without imagination or visual assistance. A response to touching is unconscious, and not necessarily reflective of one's mental, emotional, or visual attractions, which many people hold strong attachments to, the violations of which are traumatizing.

[edit] Rape of males by females

[edit] Statutory female on male rape

Further information: Female on male statutory rape

Women also can commit an act of rape with force or deception to make a man (or adolescent male) engage in a non-consensual penetrative sexual act. According to Court TV's Crime Library, women commit about 10% of all sexual offenses and their abuse often involves their own child or children, which is incest. Several widely publicized cases of female-male statutory rape in the United States involved school teachers raping their teenage male students under their consent.

[edit] Non statutory female on male rape

Non statutory female on male rape is widely, but incorrectly, considered impossible because male erectile response is seen as voluntary, when, in fact, it is involuntary. ^[3][4] Fear, anger, anxiety, and non-arousal have been cited as factors in being unable to obtain an erection. ^[2][5] Therefore, male victims of rape by females often face social, political, and legal double standards. ^[6] Female rapists are usually seen as less culpable than male rapists by the courts due to these misunderstandings. Those who do not understand the law in many jurisdictions fail to realize that the penetration of a male by a foreign object or a digit also constitutes the same crime. Since rape by females is much less well known than male-female rape, male victims of female rapists often find little support from rape crisis centers.

Due to these reasons, and the difficulties and comparative rarity of female on male rape compared to standard or statutory rape, it is likely being substantially under-reported in the United States.^[7]

[edit] References