"I would have been victim-shamed, laughed at, and treated like trash."

Under current UK legislation, only a man can commit rape. In 2003, the sexual offences act made the victim of rape gender neutral, but maintained the requirement of penile penetration. Meaning that a woman cannot rape a man or another woman.

The sexual offences act 2003 defines rape as:

A person commits rape if ‘he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus, or mouth of another person with his penis, that person does not consent to the penetration.’ The act also states that ‘the offence of rape is clearly understood to be non-consensual penile penetration perpetrated by a man, on a woman or man.’ This means any case where the woman is unable to consent, due to unconsciousness, alcohol or disability. This also includes cases where the man impersonates someone known to the victim. Thus, if a woman has sex with a man who is too drunk to consent, unconscious or unable to consent due to a disability, or has duped the victim about her identity, it is not classified as rape. This holds the insinuation that it is physically impossible for a woman to rape a man, and also that the definition of rape is consequently not, ‘sex without consent’.

Male rape victim James Landrith shares his story.

"In 1990, I went to a club with a friend of a friend. we were both on active duty in the marine corps at the time. He bought his friend to the party as well. She was pregnant at the time and hadn’t been out in a while, so she wanted to hang out and have fun. I was 19 and she was around 24 or 25."

As he was left alone with the female friend, she bought him drink, after drink after drink, promising him a ride home afterward.

"I believe someone put something in my last drink as I became disoriented and really tired suddenly.

We split the cost of a hotel room for the night. She got me a glass of water when I laid down and it would help me rest. At some point, I woke up to her on top of me. She had removed my underwear, manually stimulated me with her hand and then straddled me and raped me in my sleep. I did not stay awake long."

Its is a common misconception that, due to the mechanics of sex, that if a man is sexually aroused, he must be consenting. However, even setting aside cases of female duping, men can display physiological signs of arousal when they do not want to have sex, just as women can lubricate and orgasm during rape. An erection does not mean consent, as the man may be too drunk to be aware of what is happening around him, and his body will still have an automatic reaction to stimulation, whether he wants to have sex or not.

If we were to accept that a man cannot be raped by a woman, we must also accept that displaying physical signs of sexual arousal is consenting to sex. Just because someone didn’t fight back when they were beaten up, doesn’t mean they consented to it. If a woman can have sex with a man without his consent, the justification for not considering this to be rape would need to be on the basis that there is something different about being forcibly penetrated and being compelled to penetrate another person.

The way the law defines and deals with rape runs the risk of making male victims feel that they don’t matter as much as women, or even that they weren’t raped at all.

It is measured by amount of damage, both physical and mental, however, are males not damaged by the same incidents? One of these measurements in the risk of unwanted pregnancy, however, if a male is raped by a female and that female’s intention is to make that man get her pregnant in order to trap him into a relationship be wants no part of, is that risk not the same for men?

Professor Elizabeth Yardley feels that

"In 1990, I went to a club with a friend of a friend. we were both on active duty in the marine corps at the time. He bought his friend for the party as well. She was pregnant at the time and hadn’t been out in a while, so she wanted to hang out and have fun. I was 19 and she was around 24 or 25.y awake long."An erection does not mean consent, as the man may be too drunk to be aware of what is happening around him, and his body will still have an automatic reaction to stimulation, whether he wants to have sex or not.

Listen to the full interview here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loUeAu941As

Rape Crisis England and Wales is the national umbrella body for a network of 41 member Rape Crisis Centres across England and Wales, each of which provides specialist support, advocacy and therapeutic services to victims and survivors of all forms of sexual abuse.

‘Through our more than 40 years of experience providing frontline sexual violence and abuse services, we know that the overwhelming majority of those who commit sexual offences are adult men. However, for those who have been subjected to sexual violence or abuse by a woman, we know the impacts are just as serious, wide-ranging and long-lasting, and the trauma is just as great.’ The majority of sexual assaults are committed by men to women, but women do perpetrate sexual violence. Often people who’ve been sexually assaulted or abused by a woman worry that they won’t be believed or their experiences won’t be considered as bad. This can make it difficult for these survivors to access services or justice.’

James details how even though he was the victim, he was blamed for the incident.

"She later blamed me for her vagina being sore from raping me twice. I was expected to still drive her home, where she insisted I stay until later that day, until she told me to leave. She did not rape me again that day, but I was expected to cuddle her on the couch as if we were dating. I was not able to wash the smell off me until I got back to the barracks. I spent nearly 24 hours with her, got raped twice and had to snuggle with my rapist for hours.

I didn’t tell anyone at the time, as in 1990, people didn’t believe that men could be raped. The idea that a woman could rape a man was not even something people would entertain then."

Rape Crisis England acknowledge that some people don't even know what rape is and some wouldn't like to think that they were raped.

‘We define sexual violence and abuse as any unwanted sexual contact or activity, which includes rape. Beyond that, we don’t use strict legal definitions in our work with survivors – we are led by them and respect the language they choose to use to describe their own experiences. Survivors are experts in what they’ve been through.’

Men are also raped and sexually assaulted. While Rape Crisis focuses particularly on the needs and right of women, we recognise the impacts of sexual violence on men are no less devastating and we believe all survivors of sexual violence deserve specialist support.

James feels as if it's time that the UK law starts understanding that this is not a crime that only men commit.

"Regarding the UK law that states a woman cannot rape, I think it is unfair and enables female predators. It is time for the UK to come in the 21st century.

He thinks that if it were acknowledged as being as bad for men as it is for women, more male victims would come forward.

I never reported my incident, it would have been a waste of time. I would have been victim-shamed, laughed at, denied services and treated like trash.

Professor Yardley agrees that something needs to change.

“The law and society are not ready to acknowledge the fact that women sexually assault men, and the fact that there is no legal provision for the actual act itself does send out a message about whether or not it’s a crime. From a criminological perspective, we need to be thinking in terms of harm as well as crime, so looking at the actual impact on the victims and where there is a harm, we need to make sure the law is reflecting that.”

In law, rape is defined as non- consensual penetration with a penis. Non-consensual penetration with something other than a penis is defined as sexual assault by penetration. For those who have experienced sexual violence that involved penetration by something other than a penis, these legal definitions can feel restrictive, upsetting, or insulting.’