A person generally commits the criminal offense of rape by using force, threats of force, coercion, or fraud to have non-consensual sexual intercourse with another person. In some states this criminal offense is called sexual assault. Rape is a felony offense with significant jail or prison time as potential punishment.

Laws vary from state to state and some state laws also include in the definition of rape sexual intercourse with a person who is intoxicated by drugs or alcohol, unconscious, or mentally disabled and unable to consent to the sexual intercourse. And some states have a broad definition of the lack of consent to sexual contact constituting rape and include sexual contact with public servants (police officers, etc.), members of the clergy, mental health service providers, and employees of assisted living centers or nursing homes as lacking consent under some circumstances.

In some states it is rape or sexual assault for a health care services provider performing an assisted reproduction procedure to use human reproductive material from a donor other than the patient’s intended donor.

Rape or sexual assault laws are generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In Hawaii, rape is legally referred to as 'sexual assault,' and it is a serious felony offense. Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) Chapter 707, Part V, outlines various degrees of sexual assault. The law defines sexual assault as knowingly subjecting another person to an act of sexual penetration by compulsion, which can include force, threats of force, coercion, or fraud. Hawaii's statutes also recognize that a person cannot consent to sexual activity if they are mentally incapacitated, physically helpless, intoxicated, or deceived about the nature of the act. Additionally, Hawaii law considers it sexual assault if a person in a position of authority or trust, such as a law enforcement officer, clergy member, mental health professional, or caregiver in an assisted living or nursing home, engages in sexual contact with someone under their care under certain circumstances. The state's laws are designed to protect individuals who are unable to consent due to various vulnerabilities. Penalties for sexual assault in Hawaii vary depending on the degree of the offense, with first-degree sexual assault carrying the most severe punishment, including lengthy prison sentences.