Any situation in which you are forced to participate in unwanted, unsafe, or degrading sexual activity is sexual abuse. Forced sex, even by a spouse or intimate partner with whom you also have consensual sex, is an act of aggression and violence. Furthermore, people whose partners abuse them physically and sexually are at a higher risk of being seriously injured or killed.

• Sexual violence occurs any time a person is forced, pressurized, bullied, compelled or manipulated into any unwanted sexual activity. Simply put, sexual violence is any sexual activity that you participated in without your willing consent.
• Sexual assault is ANY unwanted sexual act or behaviour which is threatening, violent, forced or coercive and to which a person has not given consent or was not able or allowed to give willing consent.
• Remember: unless you freely and clearly give your consent, no sexual activity should take place. It doesn’t matter who is involved!
• The term ‘sexual violence’ is often used to describe sexual assault and sexual abuse. A crime is committed any time or every time an activity of a sexual nature is carried out without your willing and conscious consent. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, their personality, title, position, relationship or status notwithstanding.

Examples of sexual violence can include (but is not limited to):

• Putting a penis, object or other parts of the body into someone’s mouth, anus or vagina.
• Being forced to give or receive oral sex - putting a penis into someone’s mouth.
• Being forced to masturbate or forced to watch someone masturbate.
• Unwanted sexual touching - on private parts of the body.
• Sexual harassment - making inappropriate sexual comments.
• Voyeurism - someone exposing themselves (vagina, penis, breasts- general nakedness etc) to you.
• Making someone watch a sexual act or pornography.

There are a range of sexual violence, some of which include:

• Rape
• Incest
• Groping
• Sexual Harassment/Threats
• Intimate Partner Violence