A New Approach to Non-consensual Oral Penetration

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 extended the definition of rape to include oral penetration for the first time. This appears to be inconsistent with common understandings of sex and rape, and I submit that this mismatch between ordinary and statutory conceptions of rape undermines the principle of fair labelling and the aims of criminal justice, and likely contributes to attrition. I call for a new offence of non-consensual oral penetration – retaining the maximum life sentence but avoiding the word ‘rape’ – for assaults of this kind. I propose that this change would improve results for victims and perpetrators, and better reflect public perceptions. Categorising a sex offence as something other than rape may also make it easier to reach a conviction, but I argue that gender justice is not served by working towards increased convictions, which is neither a likely nor, perhaps, desirable outcome of feminist law reform.