9781422276099

Preventing Sexual Assault and Harassment

Rape is the act of one person forcing sexual intercourse on another person without consent . The term rape is also usually understood to mean not only penetration of the body, but also unwilling oral sexual activity. Both women and men can be raped, and both women and men can rape. The terms sexual assault and rape are often used as synonyms in casual conversation.

But when it comes to the law, the terms don’t always mean the same thing. Under the law, sexual assault is sometimes understood to mean unwelcome sexual contact that stops short of rape, such as kissing or groping. Here’s the tricky part: there is no

Myth: The typical rapist is a stranger waiting in a dark alley for a woman in a short skirt to walk by. Fact: Only about one-quarter of rapes are committed by strangers. About three-quarters of the time, the rapist is someone the victim knows.

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single definition of either rape or sexual assault under U.S. law. That’s because the terms are defined by individual states. This can get complicated, because different states have different understandings of what these words mean. For instance, the laws of

Pennsylvania define rape as unwanted sexual intercourse involving violence or the threat of violence — the exact term they use is forcible compulsion . Meanwhile, the same act,

The Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN) has a useful website where you can look up the sexual misconduct laws in your state. Point your browser to https://apps.rainn.org/policy.

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