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Washington October 20 (AVfM News) On Tuesday, October 18,the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Ad Hoc Sub-Committee of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Service discussed and voted on an update of the definition of rape for reporting purposes. This definition is not to be considered the actual law, as only legislatures can change the law. Rather, it is a classification used to determine whether or not a certain acts can be counted as rape for UCR reporting.
The meeting followed several other smaller gatherings of law enforcement groups such as the Police Executive Forum who reviewed proposed definitions and deliberated as to whether or not to support them. The meeting was closed to the public and its location was not reported until after it was concluded on Tuesday night.
The old definition of rape was stated as simply having “forced unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman” which only included vaginal penetration and not anal or oral penetration. Also lacking was any language concerning consent of the accuser. The new definition to be passed on to the CJIS Policy Advisory Board reads as follows:
“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 Baltimore Sun reported that proponents of the update are very happy about the new definition and many of the groups supporting it are on record as saying that non consensual sex should include sex while under the influence even if at the time it was consensual. “The new definition is what I wanted — for sure,” said Carol Tracy of the Women’s Law Project, an advocacy group located in Philadelphia who attended the meeting. Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, said Tuesday that 80 percent of police chiefs supported a revision and said changes were a “huge step forward in accurately reflecting the number of rapes that are occurring in our society.”
Last summer members of the Woman’s Law Project and The Feminist Majority, another very well funded feminist advocacy organization, descended on capitol hill where a special hearing was held after the Baltimore Sun reported that the city had the highest percentage of “unfounded” rapes in the nation. Yesterday, Wednesday, October 19th 40 members of Congress sent a letter to FBI director urging him to sign on for the broader definition of rape when the recommendation of the CJIS Policy Advisory Board is made in December. Subcommittee members and advocates for the change are confident that the Director will do so.
Men’s Rights activists may be relieved that the proposed update of the FBI’s definition does not explicitly include consensual sex while under the influence. However, what is of great concern is the fact that more reported rapes-many of which may not have been rapes at all but consensual sex while drunk-will mean more funding, not only for law enforcement organizations but advocacy groups that clearly have had a hand in broadening the definition of rape in many state legislatures.
This could give great incentive for local advocacy groups to lobby for an expanded definition of Rape in states where rape is more properly defined. The fact that the Woman’s Law Project had access to the meeting exclusive of the public shows a clear conflict of interest and underscores a troubling monopoly that the Sexual Grievance Industry has on the debate surrounding sexual assault.
Sources:
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/advisory-policy-board
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