What Is Sexual Assault And Sexual Misconduct?
Sexual assault is the commission of an unwanted sexual act, whether by an acquaintance or by a stranger, that occurs without indication of consent of both individuals, or that occurs under threat or coercion. Sexual assault can occur either forcibly and/or against a person's will, or when a person is incapable of giving consent. A person is legally incapable of giving consent if under 18 years of age; if intoxicated by drugs and/or alcohol; if developmentally disabled; or if temporarily or permanently mentally or physically unable to do so.
Under federal and state law, sexual assault includes, but is not limited to: rape, forcible sodomy, forcible oral copulation, sexual assault with an object, sexual battery, forcible fondling (e.g., unwanted touching or kissing for purposes of sexual gratification), and threat of sexual assault.
•Non-Consensual Sexual Contact: Any sexual touching (contact with the breasts, buttocks, groin or genitals, touching another with any of these body parts or making another touch you or themselves with or on any of these body parts), disrobing or exposure, however slight, with any object by a man or a woman upon a man or a woman without effective consent.
•Non-Consensual Sexual Intercourse: Any sexual intercourse (anal, oral or vaginal), however slight, with any object, by a man or a woman upon a man or a woman, without effective consent.
•Mutually Incapacitated Sexual Intercourse: Any sexual intercourse (anal, oral or vaginal), however slight, with any object, occurring between parties who are mutually incapacitated by the use of alcohol and/or other drugs.
•Sexual Exploitation: When a student takes nonconsensual, unjust or abusive sexual advantage of another, for his/her own advantage or benefit, or to benefit or advantage anyone other than the one being exploited, and that behavior does not otherwise constitute rape, sexual assault or sexual harassment. Examples of sexual exploitation include prostituting another student, nonconsensual video- or audio-taping of sexual activity, going beyond the boundaries of consent (such as letting your friends surreptitiously watch you having consensual sex), engaging in Peeping Tommery, knowingly transmitting an STD or HIV to another student and inducing incapacitation with the intent to rape or sexually assault another student.
Reports from the U.S. Department of Justice (2000, 2006), indicate that close to 3 percent of all college women become victims of sexual assault in a given 9-month academic year. When projected over a 5-year college career, one in five young women may experience rape during college. The fact that 80% of rape victims suffer chronic physical or psychological problems over time, and that 65% of the attacks go unreported, make sexual assault a “silent epidemic” that requires a comprehensive and sustained preventative and response effort.
