Knesset committee changes definition of rape to protect men

A bill that would redefine rape as any penetration of a male’s or female’s reproductive organs by an object or a reproductive organ, was approved for a first vote by the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Tuesday.

This would correct legislation that currently defines rape as a non-consensual penetration of a woman’s body, leaving sex crimes purported against men under the heading of sodomy.

“I am a victim of rape, not sodomy,” Adiel, a male rape victim, told the committee, saying that to him, the term “sodomy” was a whitewashing of his experience.

“As a man, I live in guilt, shame, and beyond,” he added.

Fixing the law was not only a historic correction, it was “incredibly healing,” Adiel said, thanking the committee.Yaakov, another male victim of sexual assault also told the committee that the correction was healing for him “and for many other victims.”

He said that when he went to the police to file a complaint about being raped he was asked by the officer if he “enjoyed” it.

“The reason he asked this was because due to a lack of awareness, he could not fathom that I was a rape victim. He has all kinds of other whitewashed words instead,” Yaakov said.

The law was put forward by Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, who also included in the bill the renaming of “consensual forbidden relations” as “forbidden penetration,” in order to emphasize that the act was not consensual.

'We see all victims and recognize their pain'

This law would “correct a deep wrong that has lasted for years,” said Son Har-Melech. “Although the correction would be symbolic, it could impact anyone who deals with the topic – investigators, prosecutors, judges – and send a clear message to all Israeli society: We see all victims and recognize their pain.”

Yael Sherer, the head of Israel’s Lobby to Combat Sexual Violence welcomed the approval, saying that “The State of Israel is on its way to correcting a historical injustice, and this is not just a semantic change.”

“The difficulty in defining acts of rape against men caused disregard [for the crime] and [made] securing convictions” difficult, she said.

Also, Sherer said, “The outdated term, ‘sodomy,’ exposed the victims and caused moral stigmatization.”

“Combining the crimes under one definition is expected to advance important social recognition and advance the treatment of sex offenses against men,” she said.