Current definition was factor in Carroll’s sexual abuse case, which was highlighted by Governor Kathy Hochul at bill ceremony
New York will expand its legal definition of rape to include various forms of nonconsensual sexual contact, under a bill signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday.
The state’s current limited definition was a factor in writer E Jean Carroll’s sexual abuse and defamation case against Donald Trump. The jury in the federal civil trial rejected the writer’s claim last May that the former president had raped her in the 1990s, instead finding Trump responsible for a lesser degree of sexual abuse.
The current law defines rape as vaginal penetration by a penis. The new law broadens the definition to include nonconsensual anal, oral, and vaginal sexual contact. Highlighting Carroll’s case at a bill signing ceremony in Albany, the Democratic governor said the new definition will make it easier for rape victims to bring cases forward to prosecute perpetrators.
