How is Sexual Violence Defined:

Sexual assault is forced or coerced sexual contact without consent. Consent is the presence of a clear yes, not the absence of a no.

It can take the form of:

  • Rape
  • Incest
  • Child Sexual Abuse/Molestation
  • Oral sex
  • Harassment
  • Exposing/flashing
  • Forcing a person to pose for sexual pictures
  • Fondling or unwanted sexual touching above and under clothing
  • Force which may include but is not limited to:
    • Use or display of a weapon
    • Physical battering
    • Immobilization of the victim

•     Non-contact unwanted sexual experiences are those unwanted experiences that do not involve any touching or penetration, including someone exposing their sexual body parts, flashing, or masturbating in front of the victim, someone making a victim show his or her body parts, someone making a victim look at or participate in sexual photos or movies, or someone harassing the victim in a public place in a way that made the victim feel unsafe.

•     Unwanted sexual contact is defined as unwanted sexual experiences involving touch but not sexual penetration, such as being kissed in a sexual way, or having sexual body parts fondled or grabbed.

•     Sexual coercion is defined as unwanted sexual penetration that occurs after a person is pressured in a nonphysical way. In NISVS, sexual coercion refers to unwanted vaginal, oral, or anal sex after being pressured in ways that included being worn down by someone who repeatedly asked for sex or showed they were unhappy; feeling pressured by being lied to, being told promises that were untrue, having someone threaten to end a relationship or spread rumors; and sexual pressure due to someone using their influence or authority.

•    Rape is defined as any completed or attempted unwanted vaginal (for women), oral, or anal penetration through the use of physical force (such as being pinned or held down, or by the use of violence) or threats to physically harm and includes times when the victim was drunk, high, drugged, or passed out and unable to consent. Rape is separated into three types, completed forced penetration, attempted forced penetration, and completed alcohol or drug facilitated penetration.


- Among women, rape includes vaginal, oral, or anal penetration by a male using his penis. It also includes vaginal or anal penetration by a male or female using their fingers or an object. 
- Among men, rape includes oral or anal penetration by a male using his penis. It also  includes anal penetration by a male or female using their fingers or an object. 


•     Being made to penetrate someone else includes times when the victim was made to, or there was an attempt to make them, sexually penetrate someone without the victim’s consent because the victim was physically forced (such as being pinned or held down, or by the use of violence) or threatened with physical harm, or when the victim was drunk, high, drugged, or passed out and unable to consent.


- Among women, this behavior reflects a female being made to orally penetrate another female’s vagina or anus. 
- Among men, being made to penetrate someone else could have occurred in multiple ways: being made to vaginally penetrate a female using one’s own penis; orally penetrating a female’s vagina or anus; anally penetrating a male or female; or being made to receive oral sex from a male or female. It also includes female perpetrators attempting to force male victims to penetrate them, though it did not happen.

 


State laws and regulations are subject to change. This information is not presented as a source of legal advice and should not be relied upon in the course of legal affairs.