ABSTRACT
The issue of sexual consent as it applies to male victims of rape and sexual assault has been given only limited attention within the legal literature. By contrast the social science literature on the nature and meaning of male victimisation has significantly expanded in more recent times (Isely, 1998). Within the legal literature attention has been given to issues such as the policing of male rape (Gregory and Lees, 1999); sentencing (Rumney and Morgan-Taylor, 1998); the use of ‘Male Rape Trauma Syndrome’ (Rumney and Morgan-Taylor, 1997b); and the legal definition of rape and its enforcement (Morgan-Taylor and Rumney, 1994; Rumney and Morgan-Taylor, 1997a). Several criminal justice-related agencies have also given specific attention to the issue of male sexual victimisation. Recently, the Sentencing Advisory Panel published its advice to the Court of Appeal concerning the revision of the Billam (1986) 8 Cr App R (S) 48 rape sentencing guidelines. The Panel recommended that any revised sentencing guidelines should generally apply equally to cases of male and female rape (Sentencing Advisory Panel, 2002, para. 12). The Metropolitan Police Authority report on rape investigation and victim care has also made specific reference to the needs of male victims (Metropolitan Police Authority, 2002), as has the recent joint inspection report on the investigation and prosecution of rape (HMCPSI/HMIC, 2002, pp. 35-36). Despite these developments, male sexual consent and the problem of male rape and sexual assault continues to be neglected (Rumney, 2001a). The need for legal analysis of sexual consent in this context is emphasised by the increased number of males reporting rape to the police and by the fact that so little of the discussion on the nature and dynamics of sexual consent has actually considered the problems faced by adult male victims (Estrich, 1987; Schulhofer, 1998).
