sexual abuse
sexual abuse
mistreatment through inappropriate and/or damaging sexual conduct (i.e. rape, sex with minors, etc.)
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as
molestation, is forcing undesired
sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called
sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or (often
pejoratively) molester. The term also covers
any behavior by
any adult or older adolescent towards a child to stimulate any of the involved sexually. When the victim is younger than the
age of consent, it is referred to as
statutory rape or
child sexual abuse.
sexual abuse
Noun
1. a statutory offense that provides that it is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat; "most states have replaced the common law definition of rape with statutes defining sexual assault"
(synonym) sexual assault, sex crime, sex offense
(hypernym) statutory offense, statutory offence, regulatory offense, regulatory offence
(hyponym) molestation
(classification) law, jurisprudence