How to distinguish rape, sexual abuse, and sexual violence?

There are many ways and many terms to describe non-consensual sexual behavior. It can be called rape, sexual abuse or sexual assault. Regardless of the name, any form of sexual violence negatively affects the physical and mental health of the victims.

Here are some definitions that can help distinguish the various types of violence.

Rape

The exact definition of rape differs from country to country. More generally, rape refers to a complete non-consensual sexual act in which the abuser penetrates the victim’s vagina, anus, or mouth with the penis, hand, fingers, or other objects. It has one or more of the following characteristics:

The consent of one of the persons participating in the sexual act is missing
Consent is obtained through the use of physical force, coercion, deception, or threats
The victim is unable to understand
The victim is not fully conscious (voluntary or involuntary use of alcohol and / or drugs)
The victim is asleep or unconscious

One of the most critical elements regarding rape is consent. No sexual activity should take place without free consent, and this should be accepted by both parties. Consent usually implies that at the time of sexual activity there were actual words or actions indicating a freely given agreement to have sexual activity. Therefore, if the agreement of one of the two parties is forced, coerced or obtained under pressure it cannot be considered consent since it was not freely given.

Here are some examples where the consent of one of the two parties is missing:

The will to have sexual intercourse is not made explicit: silence is not consent
If consent is given under duress (physical or emotional), in this case the consent is neither free nor voluntary and therefore having relations with a coerced person is rape
If the person is a minor or has a temporary or permanent physical or mental disability
If the person is under the influence of alcohol or drugs, they are unable to give conscious consent (even if they say yes), therefore having sexual intercourse with this person is rape

In attempted rape, the abuser attempts, but does not complete, the non-consensual sexual act. The violence that results in attempted rape can have the same impact on the victims of a completed rape.