Sexual violence,What is it?
At CAVAS, we use the term “sexual violence” because it encompasses all forms of violence (psychological and physical) of a sexual nature: sexual assault, sexual exploitation and sexual cyberviolence.
What is sexual assault?
Sexual assault is any act of a sexual nature:
- Sexual assault is any act of a sexual nature: with or without physical contact;
- committed by an individual without the consent of the person concerned or, in some cases, particularly in the case of children, through emotional manipulation or blackmail;
- intended to subjugate another person to their own desires through an abuse of power, the use of force or coercion, or under implicit or explicit threat;
- that violates a person’s fundamental rights, including physical and psychological integrity, and security. This definition applies regardless of: the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim; the type of sexual act; the sexual orientation, age, gender or any other characteristic of the victim or perpetrator; the place where the acts of a sexual nature occurred.
What actions constitute sexual assault?
The difference between sexual violence and a sexual relationship is sexual consent. Therefore, any act of a sexual nature committed without sexual consent constitutes sexual assault, including, but not limited to:
- kissing;
- touching the breasts, thighs, buttocks or genitals;
- masturbating someone or having someone masturbate you;
- oral genital contact including cunnilingus, fellatio;
- vaginal, anal, finger or object penetration; sexual harassment: all forms of unwanted attention or advances with a sexual connotation (inappropriate comments, persistent advances, vulgar jokes, etc.) that cause discomfort, fear and threaten a person’s well-being and/or employment;
- voyeurism: behaviour in which one person observes another in privacy or nudity, without the other person’s knowledge;
- exhibitionism: showing one’s genitals in a public place and/or masturbating in front of someone;
- frotteurism: provoking physical contact against a person in a public place, without their knowledge;
- other activities of a sexual nature: forced exposure to sexual acts (pornography or real sexual activities), sending unsolicited sexual content digitally (dick pic, sex tape), etc.
Sexual exploitation
Sexual exploitation occurs when an adult or teenager uses the body of a child or teenager for sexual purposes, with the aim of profiting (financially or otherwise).
Generally speaking, the exploiter will take advantage of the victim’s vulnerability or dependence and may use force and power to lure, manipulate or threaten the victim. The exploiter may act on their own behalf or on behalf of a criminal organization (street gang, organized crime).
- procuring/pimping
- trafficking in persons for the purpose of sexual exploitation
- child pornography
- sexual cyberviolence
- etc.
Sexual cyberviolence
Sexual cyberviolence is a form of sexual violence carried out using various communication technologies: the Internet, social media, text messaging and others.
- Sexual cyberstalking: Being persecuted by email, text messages or social media, causing discomfort, fear and a feeling of being threatened. It can take the form of denigration, insults, sending messages of a sexual nature, spreading rumours or even images of a sexual nature.
- Sextortion: Sexual blackmail in which the victim receives electronically distributed threats, images or information of a sexual nature. Generally, money or other intimate images are requested in exchange.
- Virtual sexual assault: Sexual assault that occurs in a virtual reality world.
- Non-consensual publication of intimate images: Publishing, distributing, transmitting, selling or making available intimate images without the consent of the person concerned. There’s also the term revenge porn, which refers to putting sexual photos or videos of one’s ex-partner online, without their consent, following a breakup to get revenge.
- Child luring: A person seduces and manipulates a minor using the Internet or new technologies, with the aim of committing a sexual assault. To achieve this, the ill-intentioned individual may use false information, for example, by posing as a person of the same age as the targeted young person.
Who is a perpetrator of sexual violence?
There is no typical profile.
The perpetrator of sexual violence can be a man, a woman, a teenager, an elderly person, etc. They do not belong to a particular ethnic or religious group, nor do they have a specific socio-economic level or sexual orientation. The perpetrator may be a doctor, a neighbour, a teacher, a parent, an in-law, etc., and is not necessarily someone we would suspect. Let’s not forget that, in over 80% of cases, the victim knows the person who sexually abused them. The only common denominator among perpetrators of sexual violence is the desire to gain power over the other person.
If you are experiencing or have experienced any of the forms of sexual violence mentioned above, don’t hesitate to seek help. Many resources are available to you, whether you wish to report the situation or receive psychosocial support.
Many resources are available to you, whether you wish to report the situation or receive psychosocial support.
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