As Pertain to Rape, Other Sexual Assaults, and Battery

(from the Los Angeles Commission for Women, 1987, and adapted by GMU)

Definition of Sexual Assault

Sexual Assault includes the attempt or act of rape (sexual intercourse without consent, both by stranger and acquaintance), forced sodomy (oral and anal sex), or forced penetration by a foreign object, including a finger. Non-penetrations sexual assault also included are the act of touching an unwilling person's intimate parts, such as genetalia, breast, buttocks, or the clothing covering the parts, or forcing an unwilling person to touch another's unwanted parts.

Rape and Sexual Assault

The legal definition of rape is an act of forced sexual intercourse. The term "sexual assault" includes other crimes such as forced sodomy (anal intercourse) and oral copulation (mouth-genital contact), which are often a part of this kind of attack. Any sexual act which is forced on someone is a crime.

Consent to sexual intercourse must be freely given otherwise there can be a presumption of guilt that a person was forced against their will. Explicit verbal consent is important and use of alcohol is not considered an excuse for forced sexual relations. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------[37;0m

Battering

Battering is an attack -- verbal, physical, or psychological -- on a person by her/his partner or ex-partner. 90% of these cases involve a man battering a woman. We have generally chosen to use "battering" rather than the commonly used term (or label) "domestic violence," which obscures the fact that for the most part men are the perpetrators and women the victims of this crime. However, battering also occurs in lesbian and gay male relationships.

Child Abuse/Incest/Molestation

Child abuse is the physical, sexual, and/or emotional harming or neglect of a child. Molestation is the sexual abuse of a child; incest is sexual abuse which is perpetrated by a blood relative or other family member, such as a step- parent.

Survivor

We often use "survivor" rather than "victim" to describe a person who has been assaulted. Instead of limiting a person's experience to victimization, this emphasizes the active recovery process after an assault. Someone who has made it through a natural disaster is considered to have survived it. In the same way, an individual who has lived though an assault -- though her/his period of injury, suffering, and recovery might be extensive -- should be considered a survivor.

Resister

"Resister" refers to a person who has successfully defended her/himself against assault, whether that defense was through awareness, assertiveness, or physical techniques. If a person is unable to stop an attack, (s)he can still practice resistance by focusing on her/his survival during the assault.

A rape that is not completed has traditionally been called an "attempted" rape, but this focuses on the assailant's actions. The term "resisted" rape, on the other hand, puts the emphasis on the individual's successful defense against the attack.

Assailant/Perpetrator

An assailant is someone who attacks another. A perpetrator is someone who does something, as in a perpetrator of violence or abuse. In this program, assailant, attacker, perpetrator, and abuser are used more or less interchangeably.

Sexism

"Behavior, policy, language, or other action of men or women which expresses the institutionalized [and] systematic... view that women are inferior." We see institutionalized sexism when, for example, a rape survivor is treated like the accused on trial in a courtroom.