Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2025 to Question 46175 on Sexual Offences Act 2003, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to remove the requirement for the accused to have a penis in order to be charged with rape.

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 provides a robust framework of very serious offences criminalising non-consensual sexual penetration. The offence of rape under section 1 of that Act is committed whenever there is intentional penile penetration of a person’s mouth, anus or vagina without consent or reasonable belief in consent. Intentional sexual penetration of a person’s vagina or anus with something other than a penis and without consent or reasonable belief in consent is criminalised by the offence of assault by penetration under section 2 that Act. “Forced penetration”, where a person forces another to penetrate them with their penis (or something else) is covered by the offence of “causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent” under section 4 of that Act.

These three sexual offences are equally serious under the law where penetration is involved and all attract a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The law in this area is rightly robust, well understood and working effectively. We therefore have no plans to amend the legal definition of section 1 rape, but we continue to keep the criminal law under review.