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Interesting discussion. I think one very important point has not yet been brought up.
The number differs depending on whether you look at reported rape or estimated total counts for rape, but approximately 1/4 of all women in the United States have been victims of sexual assault at some point in their life (rape, and attempted rape, and marital rape). One out of seven female college students have been raped. There were more women injured by rapists in 1989 alone than Marines wounded by the enemy in all of World War II.*
Rape is believed to be the most common physical assault crime committed, based on estimates looking at the number of unreported rapes through the victimization survey. In other words, more people have been impacted directly by sexual crimes than violent crimes. This means that there is a difference between playing out violent role-play scenarios and playing out sexual assault role-play scenarios. One is much more likely to hit home with someone participating than the other.
I'm not advocating for doing it or not doing it. I do think that whatever decision is made, it needs to be very inclusive, of both the participants, the IC significant other (role-playing about a spouse being raped could be very traumatic if related back to a real life situation), and the administration of the game. Keep in mind that victims of rape struggle with regaining a sense of control over their life. If anyone that you bring into an IC rape situation has personal experience with sexual assault, not having any control over whether that scenario happens or not could be very hard for them to handle.
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