The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

Relationships and Health 431

Definitions also vary in hownonconsent

to engage in sexual behavior is determined.

What is an adequate indicator of nonconsent?

Some definitions refer to rape as sexual behav-

iors that are undesired by the victim. Other def-

initions require evidence of victim resistance.

There are other situations in which a person is

unable to give informed consent, such as being

under age, mentally ill, or intoxicated. Con-

sent also may be obtained under duress. Many

definitions refer to the sexual behavior as be-

ing forced on the recipient, but definingforce

is difficult. Does there have to be evidence of

physical injury? Are verbal threats sufficient?

One kind of rape that especially suffers

from definitional issues is spousal rape. It

used to be believed that spousal rape could

not occur in marriage, because sexual inter-

course between husband and wife is a right

of marriage. Historically, rape laws in the

United States contained what is known as

themarital rape exemption clausein their

definitions of rape.That is, rape was defined

as “the forcible penetration of the body of

a woman, not the wife of the perpetrator”

experienced a sexual assault even 14 years ago

compared to people who had not experienced

a sexual assault (Elliott, Mok, & Briere, 2004).

The consequences were more severe for men

than women (see Figure 11.13).

In this section, I first define rape and

then report studies that examine the inci-

dence of rape and other forms of sexual coer-

cion. I examine rape myths and then discuss

characteristics of the perpetrator and victim:

Who rapes and who is likely to be raped?

Finally, I discuss theories of rape.

Definitions

You might expect that rape is a straightfor-

ward concept with a straightforward defini-

tion. However, there are many definitions of

rape. Definitions vary regarding the specific

behavior that distinguishes rape from other

sexual acts. The most conservative defini-

tion of rape restricts the behavior to penile–

vaginal penetration. More liberal definitions

include other forms of sexual contact, such

as kissing, fondling, oral sex, and anal sex.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Assault No Assault

Depression

(a) (b)

Assault No Assault

Sexual Concern

Male Female Male Female

FIGURE 11.13 Sexual assault victims reported more symptoms of depression (a) and

sexual concerns (b) than nonvictims 14 years after the assault. Male victims reported more

symptoms than female victims.

Source: Adapted from Elliott et al. (2004).

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