How has the definition of the offence of rape changed through history?
… is an offence for a man to rape a woman”. Rape is defined here as “unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman who at the time of the intercourse does not consent to it”. This definition was seen as discriminatory, as it said that only women could be raped and here, the actus reus of the offence of rape is incredibly limited – the man must have no consent from the woman when the act takes place and it must take place outside marriage. The greatest problems at this time came with the exact definition of the lack of consent, as it is difficult for this to be proven and there were no guidelines which could be followed in order to come up with a fair verdict. This was considered in 1976, when the amendment act added the clause stating that the jury has regard to the “presence or absence of …
