Sexual Violence Resources

What is sexual violence? Sexual violence means that someone forces or manipulates someone else into unwanted sexual activity without their consent. Anyone can experience sexual violence including: children, teens, young adults, adults, and elders. Those who sexually abuse can be acquaintances, family members, trusted individuals or strangers. http://www.nsvrc.org/saam

Sexual violence is a crime. It comes in many forms.

• Rape or sexual assault
• Incest
• Child sexual assault/abuse
• Intimate Partner sexual assault
• Unwanted sexual contact or touching
• Sexual harassment
• Sexual exploitation
• Showing one’s genitals or naked body to other(s) without their consent
• Masturbating in public
• Watching someone in a sexual or private act without their knowledge or permission

Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or (often pejoratively) molester. ^[1] The term also covers any behavior by any adult towards a child to stimulate either the adult or child sexually. When the victim is younger than the age of consent, it is referred to as child sexual abuse.

There are many types of sexual abuse, including:

• Non-consensual, forced physical sexual behavior (rape and sexual assault).

• Unwanted touching, either of a child or an adult.

• Sexual kissing, fondling, exposure of genitalia, and voyeurism, exhibitionism and up to sexual assault.

• Exposing a child to pornography.

• Saying sexually suggestive statements towards a child (child molestation).

• The use of a position of trust to compel otherwise unwanted sexual activity without physical force (or can lead to attempted rape or sexual assault).

• Incest (see also sexual deviancy).

• Certain forms of sexual harassment.