1.5 Overview of Sexual Assault

Because sexual assault survivors can be any gender, we will use ‘they’ and ‘them’ to refer to survivors.

To help us understand the vocabulary, we are going to explore definitions of sexual assault and sexual violence.

In this training, we will use the term ‘sexual assault’ to cover any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without one’s explicit consent.

This includes sexual activities such as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, attempted rape and rape.

Sexual assault does not discriminate. It can happen anywhere, to anyone.

Survivors of sexual assault come from all genders, races, ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, religions and economic levels. 

More than 85% of all sexual assaults are committed by someone the survivor knows. While the stereotype of sexual assault in a dark alley does happen, more often the perpetrator is a friend, a date, a family member, a co-worker, a student, a neighbor or a casual acquaintance.