Sexual Violence
Sexual violence refers to any type of unwanted sexual behavior or contact that occurs without freely given consent. Sexual violence can take the form of many behaviors, including but not limited to:- Rape (sexual penetration against a person’s will)
- Attempted rape
- Incest (sexual penetration or contact between family members)
- Unwanted sexual touching or fondling
- Sex with someone who is unconscious or incapacitated by alcohol or drugs
- Unwanted sexual advances
- Flashing and indecent exposure
- Use of hidden cameras to record sexual activity without consent
- Sending unsolicited nude pictures or pornography
- Distributing someone else’s nude pictures or sexual information without consent
- Peeping or spying for sexual gratification
- Sexual contact with a minor (child sexual abuse)
- Using status or power to coerce someone into sex
- Removing condom or other forms of protection without partner’s consent
While each state also has its own legal definition and criminal code regarding different forms of sexual violence, Northwestern University has developed its own school-wide definitions including:
Sexual Penetration without Consent:
“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.”
Sexual Contact without Consent:
"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."
Sexual Exploitation:
“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):
- Sexual voyeurism or permitting others to witness, listen to, or
observe the sexual or intimate activity of another person without that person’s consent; - Indecent or lewd exposure or inducing others to expose themselves when consent is not present
- Recording (through video or audio) any person engaged in sexual or intimate activity in a private space without that person’s consent;
- Distributing sexual information, images, or recordings about another person without that person’s consent;
- Recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining another person for the purpose of sexual exploitation;
- 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."