Lay definitions of rape: Categorisation of vignettes depicting sexual violence.

Rape legislation has been broadening the scope of what counts as rape over time, with many countries now including male victims, female perpetrators and wider range of sexual activities. Research into victimisation acknowledgement and perceptions of sexual violence also show that individual-level concepts of rape are changing. No research to date has explored how the UK public define rape and how this relates to offence categorisation. In this study, participants provided a definition of rape before and after categorising sexual violence vignettes as either rape or not rape. In our sample (N = 312), ~3% defined rape accurately, with the most common definition of rape including most forms of genital stimulation and penetration. These definitions were also prone to change between pre-post questions. This supports a lay theories model of rape conceptualisation: individualised definitions that can change following heuristic evaluation of new information/evidence, with implications for research and legal practice.