1. Rape, that is, sexual intercourse with the use of violence or with the threat of its use against the victim or other persons, or taking advantage of the helpless state of the victim, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to six years.
2. Rape: a) committed by a group of persons, a group of persons by prior conspiracy or an organized group; b) accompanied by a threat of murder or infliction of grievous bodily harm, as well as committed with particular cruelty towards the victim or other persons; c) resulting in infection of the victim with a venereal disease - is punishable by imprisonment for a term of four to ten years, with or without restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years.
3. Rape: a) of a minor; b) resulting through negligence in causing grievous harm to the health of the victim, infecting her with HIV infection or other grave consequences, - shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of eight to fifteen years with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to twenty years. and with restriction of freedom for up to two years.
4. Rape: a) resulting in the death of the victim through negligence; b) a victim who has not reached fourteen years of age - is punishable by imprisonment for a term of twelve to twenty years, with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to twenty years, and with restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years.
5. The act provided for in paragraph “b” of part four of this article, committed by a person who has a criminal record for a previously committed crime against the sexual integrity of a minor, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of fifteen to twenty years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to twenty years or life imprisonment.
Note. The crimes provided for in paragraph “b” of part four of this article, as well as paragraph “b” of part four of Article 132 of this Code also include acts that fall under the elements of crimes provided for in parts three - five of Article 134 and parts two - four of Article 135 of this Code, committed against a person under twelve years of age, since such a person, due to his age, is in a helpless state, that is, cannot understand the nature and significance of the actions performed on him.
Concept and legislative framework
What is considered rape is stated in Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the provisions of Part 1 of Art. 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, this term means sexual intercourse with the use of violence, or with the threat of its use, or with the use of the helpless state of the victim. Thus, a woman (girl, girl) is considered a victim of rape, but in criminal practice, cases of rape of males occur, although much less frequently.
The article for rape in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is included in Chapter. 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes liability for crimes against sexual integrity and sexual freedom of the individual. In addition to rape, such crimes include:
- violent acts of a sexual nature, for example, sodomy or lesbianism (Article 132);
- coercion to acts of a sexual nature (by blackmail, threat to property, using the financial or other dependence of the victim, Article 133);
- sexual intercourse and other actions of a sexual nature with a person under 16 years of age (Article 134);
- Depraved acts are aimed at satisfying the sexual desire of the libertine, or at causing sexual arousal in the victim, or at awakening her interest in sexual relations, Art. 135).
Attempted violence
In accordance with the provisions specified in Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, all actions that precede direct sexual contact can be classified according to a variety of criteria:
- Attempted violent acts that are aimed at interfering with a woman’s freedom of choice of a sexual partner;
- a specific attempt that did not result in sexual contact due to the victim’s escape, or other circumstances that prevented the offender from fulfilling his plans;
- Attempted rape , which did not take place due to the voluntary refusal of the offender due to persuasion, statements or requests of the potential victim.
Composition of the crime and qualifications
As already mentioned, rape in Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation means sexual intercourse under certain circumstances. The corpus delicti arises during sexual intercourse if it involves:
- using violence against the victim;
- with the threat of using such violence (verbally, gestures, objects);
- taking advantage of the victim's helpless state.
According to the clarifications of the Supreme Court dated (Resolution of the Plenum of December 4, 2014 No. 16), violence is understood as causing physical pain to the victim or restricting her freedom (for example, beatings or confinement), and if the use of violence led to serious harm or death of the victim, then, in addition to rape , the offender will be additionally charged with the corresponding article of the Criminal Code - 111 (intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm, negligent homicide) or 105 (intentional murder).
Liability for rape with the threat of violence occurs in cases where this threat was a means of suppressing the resistance of the victim and the latter had reason to fear that the threat would be carried out. A threat can be expressed verbally, by gestures, or by displaying objects, including weapons. If a threat to kill or cause grievous bodily harm was expressed after rape in order to force the victim not to tell anyone about the incident, this will be additionally qualified as a crime under Art. 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (threat of murder or infliction of grievous bodily harm).
The state of the victim is recognized as helpless when she could not understand the nature of the actions being performed on her or resist the rapist. Such circumstances may be, for example, dementia or another mental disorder, physical weakness, when the victim is a minor or an elderly person, a sick or unconscious state, and the rapist must be aware that the victim is in a helpless state.
Commentary on Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
1. The victim of a crime can only be a female person, regardless of her relationship with the perpetrator (husband, cohabitant, etc.).
2. The criminal law establishes three forms of rape: 1) sexual intercourse with the use of force; 2) sexual intercourse with the threat of violence; 3) sexual intercourse using the helpless state of the victim.
3. Rape should be understood only as natural sexual intercourse, when the perpetrator is a man and the victim is a woman. All other violent acts of a sexual nature, including natural sexual intercourse, when the perpetrator is a woman and the victim is a man, are qualified under Art. 132 of the Criminal Code.
4. The first and second forms of the act involve sexual intercourse with a woman against her will and consent. The act has a complex structure and consists of two mandatory actions: physical or mental impact and sexual intercourse.
The actions of a person who induces a woman to commit sexual intercourse through deception or abuse of trust, for example, a knowingly false promise to marry her, cannot be considered rape.
Violence should be understood as physical coercion used as a means of suppressing the victim’s resistance. It may consist of holding, binding; causing beatings, minor or moderate harm to health. If, during rape, grievous harm to health is intentionally caused, the actions of the perpetrator are qualified under the relevant part of Art. 131 and in conjunction with the crime provided for in Art. 111 of the Criminal Code. The actions of a person who intentionally caused serious harm to the health of the victim during the process of rape, resulting in her death through negligence, in the absence of other aggravating circumstances, should be classified as a set of crimes provided for in Part 1 of Art. 131 and part 4 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code.
The threat of violence is understood as intimidation of the victim, the commission of such actions that indicate the intention to immediately use physical violence, up to and including causing moderate harm to health. Thus, in Part 1 of Art. 131 we are talking about the threat of beatings, minor and moderate harm to health; the threat of murder and infliction of grievous bodily harm is covered by paragraph “b” of Part 2 of Art. 131.
Violence and the threat of its use can be applied both to the victim and to other persons in whose fate the victim is interested, for example, to her pupils.
5. The third form of rape involves the victim being in a helpless state, i.e. in which she: a) due to her physical or mental condition (young age, physical disabilities, mental disorder or other painful or unconscious state) could not understand the nature and meaning of the actions performed on her; b) understood the nature and significance of the actions being performed on her, but could not resist the perpetrator.
In both cases, the perpetrator must be aware that the victim is in such a state.
Rape of a victim who is in a state of alcoholic intoxication can be considered committed using a helpless state only if there is such a degree that it deprived the victim of the opportunity to resist the perpetrator. It does not matter whether the perpetrator himself brought the victim into such a state (for example, gave her alcohol, offered drugs) or took advantage of the fact that she was in such a state regardless of his actions.
6. The crime is considered completed from the moment the sexual intercourse begins. If violence was used, but sexual intercourse itself was not initiated for reasons beyond the control of the perpetrator, then the act should be considered as attempted rape.
7. The subjective side is characterized by direct intent. The motives for the crime can be different: satisfaction of sexual passion, revenge, the desire to force the victim to marry, etc.
8. A special subject of a crime is a male person who has reached the age of 14 years. The co-perpetrator of the crime may be a woman.
9. Rape committed by a group of persons (clause “a”, part 2) should be understood as cases where the perpetrators who took part in the rape acted in concert against the victim. The actions of not only those who committed a violent sexual act, but also those who contributed to this by using violence against the victim should be qualified as gang rape.
Persons who assisted the perpetrator in other ways, such as by providing premises or weapons of intimidation, are held liable for aiding and abetting rape.
10. Rape should be recognized as committed with particular cruelty if, in the process of committing it, the victim or other persons were deliberately inflicted with physical or moral torture and suffering. Particular cruelty can be expressed in mockery and mockery of the victim, torture during rape, infliction of bodily harm, committing a crime in the presence of her relatives or friends, as well as a method of suppressing resistance that causes severe physical or moral torture and suffering to the victim herself or other persons.
11. Particular cruelty shown after rape requires independent classification as an attack on life or health.
12. Rape resulting in infection of the victim with a sexually transmitted disease (clause “c” of Part 2) is recognized as sexual intercourse, as a result of which the woman is infected with a sexually transmitted infection: syphilis, gonorrhea, etc. Responsibility for the type of rape in question can occur when when the perpetrator knew that he had such a disease.
13. A minor (clause “a”, part 3) means a victim who has reached the age of 14, but has not reached the age of majority. The sexual maturity of the victim of violence is not important for the legal assessment of the act.
14. Other serious consequences (clause “b”, part 3) are any other consequences of this type that are not attributable to serious harm to health and HIV infection. This concept is evaluative. However, it must be borne in mind that the specified harm must occur directly from rape or attempted rape.
15. Rape, which through negligence resulted in the death of the victim, is covered by paragraph “a” of Part 4 of Art. 131. Death can be either a consequence of the actions of the perpetrator or the victim herself, who, due to the prevailing circumstances, trying to avoid rape, commits actions that entail the indicated consequences, or, being in a state of stress, commits suicide. If the death of the victim did not occur as a result of rape, but as a result of leaving her in danger, the crime constitutes a set of crimes classified under Part 1 of Art. 131 and art. 125 of the Criminal Code.
The subjective side of this crime is characterized by negligence.
16. In paragraph “b”, part 4, art. 131 identifies a qualifying feature related to the age of the victim: rape of a victim under 14 years of age. In cases where first there was rape of a minor, and then sexual intercourse with her without violence, the actions of the perpetrator are subject to qualification according to the totality of crimes (Articles 131 and 134 of the Criminal Code). Non-violent sexual intercourse with a person over 16 years of age does not constitute a crime.
17. Federal Law of February 29, 2012 No. 14-FZ Art. 131 has been supplemented with Part 5, which provides for increased criminal liability for committing the act specified in paragraph “b” of Part 4 by a person who has a criminal record for a previously committed crime against the sexual integrity of a minor (Articles 131 - 135, 240 - 242.2 of the Criminal Code).
Criminal liability for rape
The investigation of rape is carried out within the framework of criminal cases, which are initiated at the request of victims or at the initiative of the competent authorities, for example, if the rape was accompanied by the murder of the victim. About how much they give for rape is stated in Art. 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to its provisions, criminal liability for rape provides for a term of imprisonment from 3 to 6 years, if the crime occurred without circumstances aggravating the guilt of the rapist (Part 1 of Article 131).
A much more severe punishment awaits the rapist if the rape involved aggravating circumstances:
- imprisonment from 12 to 20 years with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions for up to 20 years and with restriction of freedom for up to 2 years in case of rape of a minor under 14 years of age or resulting in the death of the victim due to negligence (Part 4 Art. 131);
- imprisonment from 15 to 20 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions for up to 20 years or life imprisonment in case of rape of a minor under 14 years old, if he had previously been convicted of a crime against the sexual integrity of a minor (Part 5 of Art. 131).
Attempted rape
Forcing a girl to have sexual intercourse against her will, attempting to rape a minor, in which the crimes are not completed (do not end with sexual intercourse), will fall under Articles 29 and 30 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the provisions of Art. 29, an unfinished crime, that is, an attempt at a crime is preparation for it and an attempt to commit a crime (Part 2), and criminal liability for it comes under the same article as for a completed crime (Part 3).
Criminal liability for an attempted crime occurs only for serious and especially serious crimes (Part 2 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and this specifically includes rape. Therefore, the term for attempted rape will be determined by the relevant part of Art. 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Threat of violence
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not establish special liability for the threat of rape. If such a threat can be qualified as preparation for rape and attempted rape, then the person making the threat can be prosecuted under Art. 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. To do this, it will be necessary to establish how real the threat of rape was, what the actual intentions of the threat of violence were, and whether he proceeded to specific actions (for example, holding and undressing the victim).
The threat of rape, even if the actions of the threatening person do not show signs of preparation for a crime or an attempt on it (for example, everything is limited only to words and/or gestures), can be considered as deliberate intimidation of the victim in order to achieve some goals. This may be regarded as, for example, causing moral damage, and, accordingly, is subject to compensation in court.
Rape of minors
Rape of young children and minors is a circumstance that aggravates the guilt of rapists. Responsibility for this crime is provided for in Part 3 of Article 131 for rape of minors.
The term for rape of a minor girl is from 8 to 15 years of imprisonment with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions for up to 20 years and with restriction of freedom for up to 2 years.
Gang rape
Another aggravating circumstance is rape by a group of persons. For gang rape, Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Part 2) provides for imprisonment from 4 to 10 years with or without restriction of freedom for up to 2 years.
Corruption of minors, Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
A child under the age of twelve is considered a minor. Young children are most protected by law, and therefore the Criminal Code of Russia provides for the most severe punishment for seduction of minors. In Russia, criminals are tried for pedophilia - the crime of seducing a minor is determined by Article 134 of the Criminal Code, if the victim is under 16 years of age. This article states what responsibility a criminal will bear for sexual contact with a child if the action was not violent.
In this case, the object of the crime is the natural physiological and mental development of the child. A minor of any gender is considered a victim of seduction. The crime is defined as rape if the sexual intercourse was forcible. A child who, due to his small age, does not yet understand what exactly is happening to him will also be considered raped.
Statute of limitations for criminal prosecution
The rapist may be released from liability after the statute of limitations for the crime committed has expired (Article 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Rape is a grave and especially grave crime; the statute of limitations under Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is:
- 10 years for parts 1 and 2 (“ordinary” and gang rape);
- 15 years for parts 3, 4 and 5 (rape of a minor, rape resulting in negligence inflicting grievous bodily harm or death of the victim, infecting her with AIDS or other grave consequences).
What to do if accused of rape
Judicial practice shows that rape cases are replete with many nuances, and accusations of rape are not always justified. In some cases, such accusations are false (for example, for the purpose of revenge or illegal enrichment), in others there are no circumstances that give grounds to qualify sexual intercourse as rape.
If you have been accused of rape, and you consider this accusation to be unfounded, you need to defend your rights. We advise you to contact a lawyer on our website who has extensive experience in such cases. With its help, you can build an effective strategy to protect your interests and achieve a positive outcome.
