FBI Changes Definition of Rape to Include Male Victims - East Idaho News
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FBI Changes Definition of Rape to Include Male Victims

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Getty N 102010 FBISealBuilding?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1325879085383Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department has formally changed the definition of rape that will be used by the FBI to track the crime, including men and expanding the definition to more closely follow state statutes and criminal codes.

Last year, the FBI Advisory Policy Board voted to consider changes into the definition of rape that is used to track statistics used in the annual FBI Uniform Crime Report.  FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III confirmed he had approved the change at a congressional hearing last month.  

The FBI is dropping the old definition of rape under the UCR program, which defined forcible rape as, “The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.”

The old definition of rape was first used by the FBI back in 1927.

The new definition will now define rape as, “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

The change is expected to reflect a more accurate picture of how many rapes are reported by state and local police agencies to the FBI for the annual crimes statistics.

FBI officials declined to provide estimates with how the new definition may change the crime statistics.

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