New law ‘puts needs of survivors above the needs of rapists’, says MP Natalie Fleet, who campaigned for the change
Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/oct/22/sex-offenders-to-be-denied-parental-responsibility-for-children-born-of
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That’s awesome. But this is the UK so is it going to acknowledge that women can rape men?
Yes, the language is gender neutral.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/victims-and-courts-bill
Edit: The language in Victims and Courts Bill is gender neutral and many sections would apply to all genders, but the specific rape definition remains unchanged.
Which part of the UK legal definition of rape is gender neutral?
Sorry, I misunderstood the meaning behind the comment above.
This doesn’t change the definiton of Sexual Offences Act 2003, Section 1, so it would still only apply to people with a “penis”. But the Victims and Courts Bill has many other sections that would apply to all genders.