ABSTRACT
Introduction The two sexual offences covered in this chapter are rape and indecent assault. Rape is governed by the Sexual Offences Act 1956, but this legislation has been amended over the years in the light of modern attitudes towards sexual activity. The actus reus of the offence is now defined as ‘Sexual intercourse with a man or a woman without their consent’ (s 142 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994). The word ‘unlawful’ was dropped from the original definition because by the 1990s the only relevant application of this word was to exclude sexual intercourse between a husband and wife. The landmark case of R v R in 1991 rendered the word meaningless by expressly stating that a man was capable in law of raping his wife. The offence also now extends to both male and female victims to take into account the growing problem of male rape and to accord it the same legal status as rape of a woman.
