There is no single universal legal definition of rape; instead, the definition varies across jurisdictions. However, modern legal systems tend to converge around several core elements. Broadly, rape is understood as non-consensual sexual penetration of one person by another, achieved through force, threat, coercion, or exploitation of incapacity to consent.

Historically, rape statutes focused heavily on  legal definition of rapeb   physical force and often required proof of resistance by the victim. Modern reforms in many jurisdictions have shifted to a **consent-based model**, where the absence of voluntary, informed, and free agreement is the central element, regardless of physical resistance. Legal definitions now increasingly recognize that submission under fear does not equal consent, and that psychological coercion can be as legally significant as physical force.

Penetration is typically defined broadly to include vaginal, anal, or oral penetration, however slight, with any body part or object. Most laws no longer require ejaculation as an element of the offense. In many modern frameworks, both men and women can be perpetrators or victims.

A key component in many legal definitions is the concept of **incapacity to consent**. Rape can be found where the complainant is unable to give valid consent due to intoxication, unconsciousness, cognitive disability, age (statutory rape), or power imbalance such as custodial or institutional control. The perpetrator’s knowledge or recklessness about the lack of consent—that is, whether they knew or reasonably should have known consent was absent—is also a common statutory element.