Regarding who is covered, sexual assault laws are often gender neutral. For perpetrators to be prosecuted, legal definitions are important, but for other purposes, such as seeking help from a therapist or rape crisis center, it is unimportant whether an experience meets any legal definition. Sometimes political activists suggest definitions broader than legal definitions in order to challenge widely held assumptions about what is acceptable in sexual relations. For example, some feminist activists have defined sexual activity as rape under some circumstances even if the woman consents, such as if she consented only because she feared negative social repercussions or if she subsequently felt violated. They do not call for legal action in such cases, but they encourage people to reevaluate their relationships.
Estimates depend on how rape is defined and measured.
Estimates based on police statistics are virtually useless because most rapes are never reported to authorities. When researchers use gender-neutral definitions, they find that many more women than men have been raped and that many more men than women have been perpetrators. Across countries, most perpetrators are acquaintances of the victim - often dating partners or spouses. Within a culture, people with more traditional or sexist gender role attitudes are more tolerant of rape than are people with more nontraditional or egalitarian attitudes. Some media depictions may promote rape.