Rape measure passes
Bill would expand the definition to include other forms of assault. It now goes to Brown.
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers have sent a bill to the governor’s desk that would expand the legal definition of rape to include all forms of nonconsensual sexual assault.
Assemblywomen Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) and Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) introduced the bill to toughen consequences for sexual offenders after a former Stanford University swimmer was sentenced to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, sparking an outcry.
The law would allow a judge to consider the definition of rape in the sentencing phase of a case. The expanded definition would also allow victims more access to social services.
The measure cleared the state Assembly with a vote of 73 to 0.
Rape is currently defined under California law as “an act of sexual intercourse,” or penile penetration. Other types of sexual assault — including sexual penetration by a foreign object and sodomy — are categorized as separate offenses.
Supporters of the bill said it addressed a bias against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer victims, who are not afforded the same protections as heterosexuals, though statistics show they are more likely to be victims of sexual violence.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, 40% of gay men and 47% of bisexual men have experienced sexual violence other than rape as defined by California law, compared with 21% of heterosexual men.
On the Assembly floor Wednesday, lawmakers said the first step to ending rape is calling sexual assault what it is.
“California’s restrictive definition of rape means a man cannot be raped,” Garcia said. “It means a victim forced to engage in oral sex cannot be raped.”
It means that despite being sexually penetrated with an object, she has said, according to state law, the victim of the Stanford student was not raped.