Article 132. Violent acts of a sexual nature - as amended, verified 12/21/2021 - Criminal Code

In our country, the category of sexual crimes has come a long and difficult path. Of course, the most common crime of a sexual nature is rape. It was present in criminal legislation even under Peter the Great. A fundamental innovation in Russian jurisprudence was the appearance of Article 132 in the criminal code of our country.

Violent acts of a sexual nature (hereinafter referred to as VASA) are prosecuted by law. For some time now, these acts have become a separate type of violation of the law. There is now a line between sexual assault and rape. How these concepts differ and what punishment is provided is described in this article.

Key Facts

Violence against women, especially intimate partner violence, and sexual violence against women are a serious public health problem and a violation of human rights.
WHO estimates that approximately one in three women (30%) worldwide will experience physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or sexual violence by another person in their lifetime.
Most cases involve intimate partner violence. Globally, nearly a third (27%) of women aged 15 to 49 years in a relationship report experiencing some form of physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime.
Violence can have detrimental effects on women's physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health and, in some circumstances, is associated with an increased risk of HIV infection.
Violence against women is preventable. The health sector has an important role to play in providing comprehensive health care to women experiencing violence and serving as a referral point for women to other support services they may need.

Procedure for rape

Women who have been raped should know the following sequence of actions:

Contact a medical institution to undergo a medical examination. The doctor who conducted the examination will give a written report in which he will describe in detail all the injuries and injuries found on the victim’s body.
Contact the police by writing a statement and presenting a medical expert's report. The statement must describe in detail all the circumstances of the incident.

Important:
The rape victim is in a serious psycho-emotional state, but it is necessary to pull together and tell the investigator all the details of the incident. The more accurately the situation is described, the greater the likelihood of catching the criminal.

To conduct an examination of rape and indecent assault, you must provide your own clothes. There may be traces of the rapist's sweat, hair or blood on it.
The scene of the incident should be described in great detail. The investigator will try to find witnesses to the crime, unless the victim herself points to them.

Let us note that the more circumstances of the case become known to investigators, and the more confirmation, evidence and facts are available, the greater the likelihood of quickly catching the criminal.

Introduction

The United Nations defines violence against women as “any act of violence based on gender that causes or is likely to cause physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether in public or in personal life" (1).
Intimate partner violence is behavior by a current or former intimate partner that causes physical, sexual, or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse, and various forms of controlling behavior.

Sexual assault is “any sexual act, attempted sexual act, or other act that targets a person’s sexuality using coercion, committed by anyone, regardless of their relationship with the victim, in any location. It includes rape, defined as forced or otherwise forced penetration of the vulva or anus using the penis, other body part or object, attempted rape, involuntary sexual touching or other non-contact forms.”

State of the World Report on Violence Prevention 2014

Features of violent actions

Sexual acts with the use of violence are a surrogate or unnatural method of satisfying one’s natural needs. Moreover, committed through threats and violence. NDSH are very dangerous for two reasons:

victims do not contact the police because they do not believe that the offender will be punished, or because they are afraid of public condemnation or publicity;
the consequences of NDSH can not only cause harm physically, but also have a strong emotional impact and harm the psyche.

Scale of the problem

Population-based surveys that collect information from victims provide the most accurate estimates of the prevalence of intimate partner violence and sexual violence. A 2018 WHO analysis of data on the prevalence of violence against women for 161 countries and areas from 2000 to 2021, commissioned by the UN Inter-Agency Working Group on Violence against Women, shows that Globally, nearly one in three women, or 30% of women, will experience physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner, sexual violence from another person, or both during their lifetime (2).

Global and regional estimates of violence against women

More than a quarter of all women aged 15 to 49 years in a relationship have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner at least once in their lives (beginning at age 15). Across WHO regions, estimated prevalence rates of intimate partner violence range from 20% in the Western Pacific Region, 22% in high-income countries in the European Region and 25% in the Region of the Americas to 33% in the African Region. 31% in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and 33% in the South-East Asia Region.

Globally, up to 38% of all murders of women are committed by their intimate partners. In addition to intimate partner violence, 6% of women report experiencing sexual assault by someone other than their partner, although data on non-partner sexual violence is more limited. Partner violence and sexual violence are most often perpetrated by men against women.

COVID-19 lockdowns have made women even more vulnerable to partner abuse and known risk factors, while services have become less accessible to them. Humanitarian crises and forced displacement can exacerbate existing problems of violence, including intimate partner violence, as well as sexual violence by others, and give rise to new forms of violence against women.

COVID-19 and violence against women

Punishment for rape

The period for which the rapist will go to jail is determined based on the circumstances that took place in this crime. The minimum sentence for committing violent acts is 4 years. This punishment will be assigned to a criminal who committed his act without aggravating circumstances. The more serious and severe the consequences of the incident, the longer the prison term awaiting the attacker.

The presence of aggravating circumstances, such as serious harm to health inflicted on the victim or gang rape, carries a sentence of up to 10 years. In case of rape of a minor, the punishment increases to 15 years. Note that this is the maximum term, but judges when considering such cases usually subject rapists to the most severe punishment. Causing death as a result of rape threatens the perpetrator with imprisonment for up to 20 years.

Since rape, according to the current Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, is considered a particularly serious crime, it is possible to prosecute a rapist within 15 years. The statute of limitations for attempted rape is up to 6 years.

Health implications

Intimate partner violence (physical, sexual and emotional) and sexual assault lead to serious short-term and long-term physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health problems in women. These forms of violence also affect their children and impose significant social and economic costs on women, their families and society. Such violence can have the following consequences.

It can lead to deaths in the form of murders and suicides.
It can result in trauma: 42% of women who have experienced intimate partner violence report trauma as a result of the violence (3).
The consequences of such violence can be unwanted pregnancy, induced abortion, gynecological problems and sexually acquired infections, including HIV. According to a 2013 analytical study, women who have experienced physical or sexual violence have rates of sexually transmitted infections (and in some regions, HIV) that are 1.5 times higher than those of other women who are not experienced physical violence from an intimate partner. These women are also twice as likely to have an abortion (3).
Intimate partner violence during pregnancy also increases the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, and low birth weight. The same 2013 study found that women who have experienced intimate partner violence were 16% more likely to have a miscarriage and 41% more likely to have a preterm birth (3).
These forms of abuse can lead to depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders, sleep problems, eating disorders and suicide attempts. A 2013 analysis found that women who had experienced intimate partner violence were nearly twice as likely to develop depression and alcohol use problems as other women.
Other health effects may also include headache, back pain, abdominal pain, gastrointestinal distress, limited mobility and poor general health.
Sexual abuse, especially in childhood, can increase the likelihood of smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, and risky sexual behavior later in life. It is also correlated with perpetration of violence (for men) and exposure to violence as a victim (for women).

Warning and Response

A growing body of evidence from well-designed evaluations provides evidence of what constitutes effective interventions to prevent violence against women. In 2021, WHO and UN Women, with the support of 12 other UN and bilateral organizations, published the RESPECT women report, a framework for preventing violence against women aimed at policy-makers.

Each letter of the word RESPECT is the first letter of the name of each of the seven strategies: Relationship skills strengthening; E mpowerment of women (empowerment of women); S services ensured (ensuring the provision of services); P overty reduced; E nabling environments created (creating favorable conditions) (in schools, at work, in public places); Child and adolescent abuse prevented; and T transformed attitudes, beliefs and norms (transformation of behavior, beliefs and norms).

Each of these seven strategies provides a range of interventions in situations where resources are limited and when resources are sufficient, with varying degrees of proven effectiveness. Examples of promising interventions include providing psychosocial support and counseling to victims of intimate partner violence; women's socio-economic empowerment; cash payments; counseling spouses on improving communication skills and maintaining family relationships; outreach to the population to change gender perceptions and stereotypes, according to which gender inequality is considered the norm; school programs that emphasize school safety, prohibit harsh punishment, and curricula and materials that help overcome gender stereotypes and instill attitudes based on equality and consent; and the participation of women and men in joint training programs to discuss gender inequality and serious problems in relations between women and men.

RESPECT also demonstrates that successful and effective programs are those that focus on women's safety first; the main elements of which are designed to eradicate gender inequality and change the nature of relations between men and women; that allow for broad and active participation; aim to reduce multiple risk factors through a range of interventions and reach people from the earliest stages of their lives.

To ensure sustainable change, it is important to enact and implement legislation and policies that promote gender equality; allocate resources to prevention and response; and invest in the creation of women's rights organizations and their activities.

RESPECT women is a conceptual framework for preventing violence against women.

Is there now criminal liability for sodomy or lesbianism in Russia?

Consensual sexual intercourse between adult men or women is not punishable under the new Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to Art. 121 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, it was punishable until 1993. If the commission of sexual intercourse is associated with violence in any form, then the perpetrator can be recognized as a criminal in accordance with Articles 132 or 133 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Article 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is called “Violent acts of a sexual nature” and in terms of the composition and severity of the punishment is completely similar to Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Rape”, with the exception that “rape” traditionally means the rape of a woman by a man, and violent acts of a sexual nature cover all others “gender combinations” of participants in forced sexual intercourse, including sodomy and lesbianism. Due to this similarity, violent acts of a sexual nature performed by one man on another or one woman on another are often also referred to in everyday life as “rape.” In fact, separating a man’s violence against a woman into a separate group does not make any practical sense and is rather a tribute to tradition. In practice, all the established judicial practice in cases of rape is applied in the same way in cases of forced sodomy and lesbianism. Therefore, one should not be surprised by quotes from decisions of the Supreme Court of the USSR or the RSFSR, which refer to the rape of a woman.

In the text of the article itself, the concepts of “sodomy” and “lesbianism” are not defined. However, judicial practice uses fairly specific criteria to determine such actions. Criminal sodomy

is forced sexual intercourse between a man and a man by inserting the penis of one partner into the anus of the other.
Criminally punishable lesbianism
is communication between a woman and a woman in the sexual sphere with the use of violence through contact of their genitals, as well as other lustful actions performed with the hands and other organs and parts of the body.
Other violent acts of a sexual nature
include any violent actions of a man against a woman or against another man, or a woman against a man (masturbation, oral sex, etc.). It should be noted that all violent acts of a woman against another woman in the sexual sphere are covered by forced lesbianism.

Under violence

violence should be understood as both physical and mental.
Physical violence can consist of beatings, wounds, infliction of other physical pain, tying up, holding someone indoors, depriving them of the opportunity to call for help, etc. Mental violence can be expressed in intimidation of the victim, threats of physical violence against the victim and his friends , close relatives and other persons. In Art. 132 of the Criminal Code, one should distinguish between the threat of violence
as a means of overcoming the resistance of the victim (Part 1) and
the threat of murder or infliction of grievous bodily harm
as an aggravating circumstance (Part 2). In the first case, the threat is the implementation of mental violence against the victim.

The helpless state of the victim means his inability to resist having sexual intercourse with him or his inability to correctly assess the events taking place based on his mental state. In such cases, it must be obvious to the perpetrator that the victim is in a helpless state. The perpetrator can take advantage of the victim being in a helpless state, or he can bring him into a helpless state (for example, by pouring a large dose of sleeping pills or drugs into food, wine, etc.) to achieve his goal. The Supreme Court of the USSR explained: “The following can be considered as a helpless state: the presence of the victim ( should be understood by analogy as the “victim” - N.I.

) physical disabilities, young age, mental disorder, unconsciousness or other painful state, due to which she could not understand what was happening and resist.
Consequently, sexual intercourse with a woman ( similarly, “man” - N.I.
) who is in a state of intoxication, without the use of physical violence or threats in itself is not a reason to consider this as a criminal act. For such an assessment of the crime, it is necessary that the degree of intoxication characterize the victim’s state as helpless, that is, it would deprive her of the opportunity to be aware of the surrounding situation, understand the meaning of the actions committed by the perpetrator, or resist him.”

The crime is considered over

(i.e. entails punishment) counted from the moment of the beginning of sexual intercourse, regardless of its consequences. In other words, completion of sexual intercourse in the physiological sense is not required. At the same time, the Plenum indicated that the actions of a person seeking consent to perform a sexual act through deception or abuse of trust, for example, a knowingly false promise of material reward, cannot be considered rape.

The Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation also indicated that when resolving cases of attempted rape with the use of physical or mental violence, it should be established whether the defendant acted with the aim of committing sexual intercourse and whether the violence he used was a means to achieve the goal. Only in the presence of these circumstances can the actions of the perpetrator be considered as attempted rape. In this regard, it is necessary to distinguish attempted rape from other criminal attacks affecting the honor, dignity and integrity of the person (depraved acts, hooliganism, causing bodily harm, insult, etc.).

The subject of the crime, i.e. guilty person

In case of forced sodomy, only a male person can be subject to criminal liability, and in case of forced lesbianism - only a female person who has reached 14 years of age. Persons of a different sex who take part in violent acts of a sexual nature (women in sodomy, men in lesbianism) are held accountable as accomplices - organizers, instigators, accomplices. When this crime is committed as part of a group (for sodomy - women, for lesbianism - men), persons who only take part in the commission of violent acts, but do not themselves engage in sexual contact, are held liable along with other persons who directly commit violent acts of a sexual nature , according to paragraph “b” of Part 2 of Art. 132 of the Criminal Code.

Violent acts of a sexual nature must be committed intentionally

- the perpetrator must be aware that he is committing a crime with the use of violence. The motive of this crime is the satisfaction of sexual passion. In some cases, the motives may be revenge or humiliation of the victim's human dignity.

Parts 2 and 3 of Article 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contain a long list of aggravating circumstances that affect the severity of the punishment.

Rape is considered repeatedly committed when it is committed at least twice, regardless of which part of this article the first crime was classified under and when violent acts of a sexual nature were previously committed. If a conviction for a previous rape or sexual assault has been withdrawn or expunged, the new rape is not recognized as having been committed repeatedly and is subject to qualification without taking into account the sign of repetition. In cases where the violence against the victim was not interrupted or was interrupted for a short time and the circumstances of the commission of violent sexual acts indicate the single intent of the perpetrator, the commission of a second and subsequent sexual acts cannot be considered as a circumstance giving grounds for qualifying the act on the basis of repetition.

Under threat of murder or serious bodily harm

should be understood as a clearly expressed intention to deal with the victim immediately, in the same place where they are. Such a threat may be accompanied by a demonstration of the weapon of this crime: a knife, razor, stone, etc. To confirm the reality of the threat, bodily harm may be caused to the victim with these objects. Moreover, it does not matter whether the perpetrator had the intention of carrying out the threat or was counting solely on the psychological impact on the victim.

Rape accompanied by extreme cruelty

, consists of bullying the victim, inflicting torture on him, for example, cases encountered in judicial practice of inflicting multiple wounds with a knife and burning hair.

About infection

the victim of a venereal disease is described separately, in the commentary to Art. 121 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Rape of a minor

should be understood as committing forced sexual intercourse with a person under eighteen years of age. For the perpetrator, knowing that he is a minor means that he is aware of the minority of the victim. However, knowledge should not be attributed to the reliability of the guilty person’s knowledge of the minor, but to the fact that he knew or assumed it and, therefore, acted taking into account this knowledge. Therefore, the certainty of knowledge about a minor does not change because the perpetrator does not have complete confidence in the age of the victim. At the same time, there are no signs of knowledge if the perpetrator made a mistake in good faith, believing that the victim had reached 18 years of age. In other words, in the event of a factual error, when the perpetrator believed that this circumstance was absent, he did not have prior knowledge of the minority of the victim.

If the death of the victim was caused by negligence, then it is necessary to establish a causal connection between the death of the victim and sodomy. In the absence of such a causal connection, sodomy is qualified without taking into account the specified sign, and causing death is qualified under Part 1 of Art. 109 of the Criminal Code (“Causing death by negligence”).

Causing grievous bodily harm

The victim should understand the harm caused to him during the rape or immediately after it, which is specified in Part 1 of Art. 111 (“Intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm”) and Part 2 of Art. 112 of the Criminal Code (“Intentional infliction of moderate harm to health”), but crimes (sodomy and infliction of grievous harm to health) are qualified based on the totality of the article in question and Art. 118 of the Criminal Code (“Causing grievous or moderate harm to health”) only in the absence of a causal connection between sodomy and grievous harm to health. If there is such a causal connection, only clause “b” of Part 3 of Art. 132 of the Criminal Code.

HIV infection through sodomy is covered by paragraph “b” of Part 3 of Art. 132 of the Criminal Code, additional qualification under Art. 122 of the Criminal Code (“Infection with HIV”) is necessary only in the case when such infection is not associated with sodomy, but then sodomy should be assessed without taking into account this feature of Part 3 of Art. 132 of the Criminal Code.

Other grave consequences

Sodomy, judicial practice includes, for example, the suicide of the victim, his mental disorder, loss of the ability to bear children, loss of the possibility of sexual activity.

A “softer” form of violence (physical or mental) is “coercion.” Article 133 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for criminal liability for forcing a person to engage in acts of a sexual nature, including sodomy and lesbianism. Forcing a person to engage in acts of a sexual nature should be understood as applying mental pressure to him through blackmail, threats of destruction, damage or confiscation of property, or using the financial or other dependence of the victim. It should be noted that a threat to health or life is mental violence and is subject to punishment under Article 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, as discussed above.

Blackmail is the threat of exposing or disclosing true or false information that disgraces the victim, with the aim of inducing him in this case to commit acts of a sexual nature.

Financial dependence may mean that the victim uses financial assistance from the perpetrator, lives in his residential premises, has debt obligations to him, etc. The transfer of gifts by one person to another and the acceptance of them by the latter does not create conditions of financial dependence and cannot be considered a means of coercion to action of a sexual nature.

Another dependence may mean, for example, official dependence - the relationship between a boss and a subordinate, when official or financial status, as well as the receipt of any benefits, depends on the favor of a person superior in service (work). Relationships between colleagues or work in the same team in equal positions do not create conditions of service dependence.

The crime should be considered over

from the moment of compulsion to acts of a sexual nature. The commission of the actions themselves is not required to declare the crime completed.

To be considered such, a crime must be committed with direct intent. Guilty

realizes that he, through blackmail or other similar actions, is forcing him to commit acts of a sexual nature, and desires this. The motive is the satisfaction of sexual passion. Both male and female persons over 16 years of age may be guilty of this crime.

There is no crime in the actions of a person who committed acts of a sexual nature, knowing that the victim was forced to do so by another person. In cases where the person who committed acts of a sexual nature incited another person to coerce the victim, he must be held liable as an accomplice under Art. 34 and 133 of the Criminal Code.

The actions of a person soliciting sexual acts through another person, on whom the possible victim is financially or otherwise dependent, constitute a crime under Art. 133 of the Criminal Code, do not contain.

References:

Commentary on the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Ed. prof. A.V. Naumova. - M.:Yurist, 1997
Issues of criminal law and process, M., 1980
Collection of decisions of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. 1991 - 1993, M., 1994
Bulletin of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, 1990, N 11

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The role of the healthcare sector

While preventing and combating violence against women must be based on a multisectoral approach, the health sector plays an important role. The health sector can:

Conduct awareness-raising efforts to promote the unacceptability of violence against women and the need to address such violence as a public health problem;
provide comprehensive services to survivors of violence, inform and train health care providers to respond comprehensively and sensitively to the needs of survivors in a compassionate and non-judgmental manner;
prevent recurrence of violence by early identifying women and children experiencing violence, referring them to appropriate services and providing them with the necessary support;
Promote gender equality norms in life skills education and comprehensive sexuality education programs for young people;
Build evidence on effective practices and the extent of the problem by conducting population-based surveys or integrating violence against women into population-based demographic and health surveys and surveillance and health information systems.