Petition · past parliament

Amend the SOA 2003 so that rape is no longer defined by only penetration.

Rejected 19 signatures

What the petition asks

Changes are needed for rape legislation in the UK which, under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, is only defined by penetration. This law does not allow all male rape victims full justice and means that female perpetrators, rapists, cannot be charged with rape and instead face charges of sexual assault.
Approximately 12,000 men in England and Wales are victims of sexual assault each year. The crushingly high standard of masculinity that we hold men to means that around 96% of these assaults go unreported. More needs to be done to shift this heavy burden of masculine expectation which we as a society instil upon young boys, and which remains with them throughout their lives. Lets change this legislation, to ensure male rape victims get the full justice they deserve.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

We think the following petition is similar to yours:
Amend Exclusionary Rape Law that excludes woman from committing rape

Timeline

9 Feb 2017 Petition opened for signatures
14 Feb 2017 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 19
Status Rejected
Rejected 14 Feb 2017

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.