What is Sexual Assault?

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Sexual Assault is defined as any involuntary sexual act in which a person is threatened, coerced, or forced to engage against their will, or any sexual touching of a person who has not consented. This includes rape (such as forced vaginal, anal, oral penetration), groping, forced kissing, child sexual abuse, or the torture of a victim in a sexual manner.

Sexual Violence refers to a type of sex/gender discrimination involving physical sexual acts perpetrated against a persons will or where a person is incapable of giving consent (e.g., due to the students age or use of drugs or alcohol, or because an intellectual or other disability prevents the person from having the capacity to give consent). A number of different acts, as defined below fall into the category of Sexual Violence including: dating violence, domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, sexual coercion, and stalking. Sexual Violence can be carried out by school employees, other students, or third parties.

Dating Violence is defined as violence by a person who has been in a romantic or intimate relationship with the victim. Whether there was such a relationship will be gauged by its length, type, and frequency of interaction.

Domestic Violence is defined as asserted violent misdemeanor and felony offenses committed by the victims current or former spouse, current or former co-inhabitant, persons similarly situated under a domestic or family violence law, or anyone else protected under domestic or family law.

Rape is defined as non-consensual sexual intercourse, however slight, with any object, by one person upon another person that is without consent and/or done by force.

Sexual Battery shall be defined as an unwanted form of contact with an intimate part of the body that is made for purposes of sexual arousal, sexual gratification, or sexual abuse. Sexual battery may occur whether the victim is clothed or not.

Sexual Coercion shall be defined as any act of persuading or coercing a person into engaging in an unwanted sexual activity through physical force, the threat of physical force, or emotional manipulation. It may also include substance coercion. Coercive situations may occur along a continuum and may not be obvious, even to the coerced individual.

Stalking is defined as a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for her, his, or others safety, or to suffer substantial emotional distress. Please see section 14-277.3A of the General Statutes for North Carolina’s definition of stalking.

Consent must be received prior to engaging in sexual activity and shall be defined as affirmative action through clear words or actions that creates the mutual understandable permission of all parties to willingly engage in sexual activity and the conditions of such activity. Consent can only be given by one who has the mental and physical capacity to make such a decision, and it must be clear, knowing, and voluntary. Consent to engage in one form of sexual activity cannot automatically imply to consent to engage is any other form of sexual activity. Previous relationships or prior consent cannot imply consent to future sex acts. Consent can be withdrawn at any time. Consent may not be granted by a person known to be, or by one who should be known to be, mentally or physically incapacitated. It should be recognized that the lack of protest or resistance is not, in and of itself, consent and persons who are asleep, unconscious, or unable to communicate due to a mental or physical condition are not capable of granting consent.