Biastophilia and raptophilia refer to a paraphilia in which sexual arousal is dependent on, or is responsive to, the act of assaulting an unconsenting person, especially a stranger. The source of the arousal in these paraphilias is the terrified resistance to the assault, and in this respect it is considered to be a form of sexual sadism.

Similarly, some fetishists imagine themselves being coerced, or otherwise forced into a sex act.

45.8% of men in a 1980 study reported fantasizing during heterosexual intercourse about "a scene where [they had] the impression of being raped by a woman" (3.2% often and 42.6% sometimes); 44.7% of scenes where a seduced woman "pretends resisting;" and 33% of raping a woman.

One form of sexual roleplaying is the rape fantasy, also called ravishment or forced sex roleplay. Ravishment has become a more preferred term in BDSM circles, as it makes a distinction between consensual roleplay and nonconsensual assault. Though consensuality is an important component of sexual roleplay, the illusion of non-consensuality (ie. rape) is important to maintaining the fantasy. Crossing the line may constitute an assault.

Since the illusion of non-consensuality is important to the fantasy, one or more safewords are typically employed. This way, a participant can protest without stopping the scene, unless the safeword is used. Often a variation on the "stop-light" system is used, with different colors designating different messages: "red" to stop everything, "yellow" to slow down or take it easy, and so forth. For scenes where there is an element of surprise, the top or "ravisher" may use a "startword" or other identifying signal.

In healthy ravishment scenes, all participants carefully negotiate what will transpire beforehand. Limits are respected and made very clear, to maintain safe, sane and consensual play. Such negotiation would also include discussion of emotional issues for both partners, especially if there has been a prior history of actual sexual abuse or assault.