I argue that, as these justifications fail, a woman having sex with a man without his consent ought to be considered rape. I first reject three potential justifications for making penile penetration a condition of rape: (1) it is physically impossible for a woman to rape a man (2) it is a more serious offence to forcibly penetrate someone than to force them to penetrate you (3) rape is a gendered crime. This paper argues that this is an unjustified double standard that reinforces problematic gendered stereotypes about male and female sexuality.
Under current UK legislation, only a man can commit rape.
