Sexual assault (also referred to as sexual violence) is any unwanted, forced, or coerced sexual activity. It can take many forms:

• Forced or coerced intercourse (rape) or other sexual acts
• Sexual harassment
• Obscene phone calls
• Sexual exposure
• Unwanted touching
• Acquaintance or date rape
• Stranger rape
• Forced sexual acts as a result of domestic violence
• Gang rape
• Sexual exploitation such as forced prostitution

Victims are chosen because they are vulnerable and accessible. Anyone – girl, boy, woman, or man of any age can be a victim of sexual assault.

Sadly, sexual violence can also be used with other forms of abuse to control an intimate partner’s behavior. Approximately 10-14% of married women in the United States are raped by their husbands, a form of domestic violence that accounts for 25% of all rapes.