久草成人在线

Skip to main content

Sexual Violence

Sexual violence is a term that encompasses any sexual behavior or activity that occurs without consent. Some forms of sexual violence include rape, sexual assault, incest, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment. Sexual violence, relationship violence, and stalking often overlap. 

The definitions below are taken from the official Northwestern Policy on Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct and Interim Policy on Title IX Sexual Harassment. You can learn more about Northwestern definitions, policies, and reporting at the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. State definitions may differ, and you can learn more about Illinois definitions of sexual violence at the . 

These definitions may resonate with you, or they may not. You might be surprised, confused, or upset by something that is included or not included in these definitions, and your personal definition of your experience may not fit neatly into a label. 

No matter how you define your experience, CSAW advocates are always available as a survivor-centered, confidential space for you to talk about your experiences, get support, and learn more about your options and resources. 

Northwestern Definition of Sexual Violence

The following definitions are taken from the Northwestern Policy on Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct. 

Sexual Assault

  1. Sexual penetration without consent:  
    1. Any penetration of the sex organs or anus of another person when consent is not present; any penetration of the mouth of another person with a sex organ when consent is not present; or performing oral sex on another person when consent is not present. This includes penetration or intrusion, however slight, of the sex organs or anus of another person by an object or any part of the body.  
  2. Sexual contact without consent:  
    1. Knowingly touching or fondling a person’s genitals, breasts, buttocks, or anus, or knowingly touching a person with one’s own genitals or breasts, when consent is not present. This includes contact done directly or indirectly through clothing, bodily fluids, or with an object. It also includes causing or inducing a person, when consent is not present, to similarly touch or fondle oneself or someone else.  
  3. Statutory rape:  
    1. Sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent under the laws of the state in which the incident occurred. In Illinois, the age of consent is 17 years old. However, if the offender is in a position of authority or trust over the victim, the age of consent is 18. 
  4. Incest:  
    1. Sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.

Sexual Exploitation

  1. Taking sexual advantage of another person or violating the sexual privacy of another when consent is not present. This includes, but is not limited to, the following actions (including when they are done via electronic means, methods or devices):  
    1. Sexual voyeurism or permitting others to witness, listen to, or observe the sexual or intimate activity of another person without that person’s consent;  
    2. Indecent or lewd exposure or inducing others to expose themselves when consent is not present;  
    3. Recording (through video or audio) any person engaged in sexual or intimate activity in a private space without that person’s consent;  
    4. Distributing sexual information, images, or recordings about another person without that person’s consent;  
    5. Recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining another person for the purpose of sexual exploitation; 
    6. Inducing incapacitation in another person for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with someone who lacks capacity to consent, regardless of whether prohibited sexual conduct actually occurs. 

Sexual Harassment

The following definitions are taken from the Northwestern Interim Policy on Title IX Sexual Harassment. 

Title IX Sexual Harassment

  1. Conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following:  
    1. Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment:  
      1. An employee of Northwestern conditioning the provision of an aid, benefit, or service of the University on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct.  
    2. Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment:  
      1. Unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to Northwestern’s Education Program or Activity. 

Title IX Sexual Assault

  1. Under 20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)(A)(v), the term “sexual assault” means an offense classified as a forcible or nonforcible sex offense under the uniform crime reporting system of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Uniform Crime Reporting System includes the following offenses as forcible or nonforcible sex offenses:  
    1. Rape:  
      1. The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object or instrument, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim or where the victim is incapable of giving consent, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of their age or because of their temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity. An “object” or “instrument” is anything used by the offender other than the offender’s genitalia.  
    2. Fondling 
      1. The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of their age or because of their temporary or permanent mental incapacity. 
    3. Incest 
      1. Non-forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.  
    4. Statutory Rape 
      1. Non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.