Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of updating the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to reflect that rape can be committed by either sex.

The offence of rape under section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 is committed whenever there is penile penetration without consent or reasonable belief in consent. Non-penile penetration without consent or reasonable belief in consent is criminalised by the offence of assault by penetration under Section 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

The law in this area is rightly robust, well-understood and working effectively. We therefore have no plans to amend the legal definition of rape.