In criminal law, the penalty for rape is specified in Art. 131. This act is defined as sexual contact with the use of violent acts or with the threat of their use against victims. The guilty person shall be held liable under Art. 131 and in the event of intercourse with a knowingly helpless person.
Legislative aspect
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as a whole did not radically change the norm that was present in Art. 117 of the Code of 1960. The new law included amendments clarifying certain signs of a crime. For example, the threat of sexual intercourse has come to be interpreted unambiguously as the threat of violence. Along with this, the new Code includes an indication of the likelihood of its application to other persons, except the victim. The compositions of Art. 131-132 of the Criminal Code. The content of the definition of “sexual intercourse” itself was substantially narrowed. Perverted forms of rape were classified as crimes under Art. 132 and became known as violent acts of a sexual nature.
Qualifying signs
In Art. 131 of the Criminal Code included elements of a crime that were not contained in the previous Code. These include:
- The commission of an act by a subject previously guilty of violent acts of a sexual nature.
- The onset of death (Part 4, Article 131 of the Criminal Code).
- The presence of special cruelty in relation to the victim or other persons.
- Infection with a venereal disease victim (Article 131, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
- Causing serious harm to health or other grave consequences for a woman.
- Infection with a victim of HIV infection (Part 3, Article 131 of the Criminal Code).
Some of these signs were previously considered as constituting a complex of consequences of special gravity caused by rape. Art. 131 in the modern edition does not mention them, but includes these elements in qualifying compositions.
Changes
Art. 131 of the Criminal Code was subjected to repeated adjustments. Federal Law No. 162, for example, the qualifying attribute of the composition “repeated or committing an act previously guilty of sexual acts” was excluded. Law No. 215 significantly increased liability for sexual intercourse with minors and minors. The same Federal Law excluded an indication of the knowledge of the attacker about the age of these victims. Law No. 377 includes additional punishment in qualified formulations. It is represented by a restriction of freedom. Responsibility for rape of minors and minors Federal Law No. 14 has been toughened even more. Life sentences are provided for acts for persons previously convicted of attempted sexual assault on a minor. In addition, Art. 131 stipulates that victims who have not reached 12 years of age must unconditionally be recognized as being in a helpless state.
An object
As him art. 131 refers to the sexual freedom or integrity of a woman. The latter definition applies to victims who have not reached the age of 16, or who are unable to consent to sexual intercourse due to dementia or other mental illness. Additional optional objects may be:
- Bodily integrity.
- Life and health of a woman.
- Normal development of a minor or minor in mental and physical terms.
Only a woman can be considered a victim of rape. In modern practice, the question of recognizing her as such cannot depend on the state of her psyche, social status, previous behavior, or moral character.
Art. 131 of the Criminal Code: commentary on the objective side
This part of the crime includes:
- Directly committing intercourse.
- Alternative methods of action (the use of violence or the threat of its use against a woman or other persons, her helpless condition).
Based on this, three types of crime are distinguished:
- Use of guilty violence against a woman or other subjects.
- Using the victim's helplessness.
- The threat of violence.
If a person seeks from the victim to enter into sexual intercourse in other ways - a promise to marry, cheating, etc., then such behavior cannot be qualified under Art. 131. In a number of publications there is an indication that some forms of deception are in contact with the helpless state of the victim. For example, a woman enters into intercourse, having misconception regarding the identity of the sexual partner (taking an outsider for a spouse, for example), or because of ignorance and under the influence of false information, she perceives contact as a necessary element of a medical procedure. In these cases, according to some authors, such acts can be qualified as rape, which was committed using the victim's helplessness, not aware of the social significance and nature of the actions applied to her.
Subject of crime
As it can only be a man who has reached the age of 14. When qualifying a crime, a woman can only be a co-executor. This takes place in cases where she uses physical influence to overcome the resistance exerted by the victim in the course of group abuse (Article 131, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The person who persuaded or otherwise persuaded others who are not subject to prosecution (insane or juvenile) to commit violent intercourse also acts as a subject of a crime . In this case, there is no complicity.
Goals and motives
They do not act as mandatory elements of the composition. As a rule, rape is committed to satisfy a need - for a sexual motive. However, there are other cases. For example, rape can be committed out of jealousy, hooligan motives, and so on. There are known cases of outrage from revenge as a response to the victim’s unwillingness to marry, a “self-employed” act for personal gain. According to the results of sociological research, since the beginning of the 21st century in Russia, about 3% of raped women were hired instead of reporting to the police to order the commission of violent acts against daughters, sisters or wives of criminals.
Continued and cumulative crime
If several sexual intercourse did not interrupt or there was a short time interval between them, and the circumstances of the rape indicated a single intention of the perpetrator to commit identical acts, then the act is considered as a single continued. If there is a long break between crimes, or if there is no unity of intent, the deed is considered as a set of episodes. Art. 131 is charged in such a situation several times by the number of rapes.
Qualification Features
Due to the fact that other actions having a sexual orientation, except for sexual intercourse, are not covered by what is specified in Art. 131 composition, their forced use in the process, before or after the act forms the totality of crimes, including the signs provided for in Art. 132. For the qualification of the deed, it will not matter if there is a time gap between the acts. Similarly, consecutive rape with the use of violence against two victims at the same time is considered.
Grave harm
Intentional beating, damage to health of medium and light degree is covered by the composition of the article in question. These acts do not require qualifications in the aggregate. But if the violence was used, or the threat of its use was used against other persons, then these actions are considered under the relevant articles. In case of intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm to the victim during sexual intercourse or an action associated with it is separately qualified under Article 111. Damage to the physical state through negligence is covered in part 3, Article 131 of the Criminal Code (in paragraph "b"). Additional qualifications in this case are not required. The actions of a subject who intentionally caused serious harm to a woman’s health during sexual intercourse, which subsequently caused her death, in the absence of other signs, should be considered together in accordance with part 1, Article 131 and h. 4, Article 111.
Murder
If committed during the rape, the act is qualified by the totality of the compositions of Art. 105 (part 2) and 131. If the murder occurred after abuse or attempted murder to cover up a crime, out of revenge for the victim’s resistance, the crime is considered in the same way in two ways. In a number of publications there is an opinion that the adjustments that were made to Art. 16 of the Code of Federal Law of July 21, 2004, require qualification of rape aggravated by murder as a circumstance that entails a more severe punishment. The authors of such publications believe that the act should be considered only as a murder, and sanctions should be more severe, given the additional actions of the perpetrator - abuse of the victim. Thus, the punishment should be imposed solely under subsection "k", part 2, art. 105. But this interpretation of the crime in judicial practice is not confirmed. The Constitutional Court, in particular, provided clarification on one of the acts committed in the circumstances. The authorized court explained that the murder committed with the rape of the victim is qualified by the totality of the two articles.