U.S. Fed. Government redefining ‘Forcible Rape’, despite what the F.B.I. says.

WASHINGTON — The federal government is changing its longstanding definition of “forcible rape” in compiling national crime statistics — expanding both the definition of victims, to include males, and the types of sexual assault that will be counted in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Report.

The new definition, which has been in the works for several months and was formally announced by the Obama administration on Friday, will replace a narrower definition of “forcible rape” with one that includes, among other things, forcible oral or anal penetration. The narrower definition, which is limited to vaginal penetration, has been used since the 1920s in tracking how often such crimes are reported around the country.

25 Facts About Rape in America

1. The FBI’s definition of “forcible rape” in their Uniform Crime Report (UCR): “The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” [PDF]
2. What that definition leaves out: anal, oral and statutory rape; incest; rape with an object, finger or fist; rape of men
3. Number of men raped in any year, according to the UCR: 0 [PDF]
4. Estimated number of men actually raped each year, according to the Dept. of Justice: 93,000 [PDF]
5. Number of women raped in 2007 under the UCR definition: 91,874
6. Number of sexual assaults in 2007–which includes rapes the FBI leaves out–according to the National Crime Victimization Survey: 248,300
7. Dept. of Justice estimate of how many women are actually raped each year: 300,000 [PDF]
8. Number of arrests for rape in 2007 (UCR): 23,307
9. Percentage of rapes that result in incarceration: 0.35 percent [PDF]
10. Number of murders/manslaughters in 2007 (UCR): 17,157
11. Number of arrests for murder/manslaughter in 2007 (UCR): 13,480
12. Percentage of murders that result in incarceration: 20 percent or more [PDF]
13. Average number of rapes to every murder committed annually: 5 to 1
14. Two of the top five cities in the U.S. with the most “unfounded” (i.e., false or baseless reports, according to police) rapes: New Orleans and Baltimore
15. Percentage of rape reports deemed “unfounded” by New Orleans police in 2008: 60 percent
16. Percentage of rape reports deemed “unfounded” by Baltimore police in 2009: 32 percent

Victim advocacy groups have long criticized the old definition as outdated, saying it left out many crimes that were prosecuted as rape under state laws but that were not reflected in national statistics.

Males Can’t Be “Forcibly Raped”— According to the FBI

For example, the outdated definition did not count forcible anal or oral penetration, the penetration of the vagina or anus with an object or other body part, the rape of a man, or the rape of a woman by another woman.

It also did not cover nonconsensual sex that does not involve physical force — like the rape of people who are unable to grant consent because they are drugged, very drunk or younger than the age of statutory consent in their state, a number that varies across the country.

The new definition, which was drafted with input from local and state law enforcement agencies based on more modernized rape laws, encompasses a broader range of such circumstances. Specifically, it covers the “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.”

Many states have long since adopted a more expansive definition of rapes in their criminal laws, and officials said that local police departments had been breaking down their numbers and sending only a fraction of the reported rapes to the F.B.I. to comply with outdated federal standards. See source for more