sexual assault

sexual assault (countable and uncountable, plural sexual assaults)

1. A physical attack of a sexual nature on another person or a sexual act committed without explicit consent.
   • 1956, Albert Ellis, Ralph Brancale, The psychology of sex offenders‎, page 62:

     their sample consisted of a much higher percentage of sexual assault and forcible rape cases than does the sample employed in the present study

   • 1974, The Hennepin Lawyer, Volume 43‎, page 12:

     Sexual Assault Services had its inception with a two-part seminar on Sensitivity and Awareness Training for the County Attorney's staff in early 1974

   • 1974, New York Radical Feminists, Rape: the first sourcebook for women‎:

     Instead, rape became an issue when women began to compare their experiences as children, teen-agers, students, workers, and wives and to realize that sexual assault, in one form or another, was common.

   • 1975, Terry Ann Knopf, Rumors, Race, and Riots‎, page 62:

     Sometimes rumors of sexual assault operated prior to the riot

   • 1978, Sexual Assault of Children and Adolescents‎:
   • 2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport‎:

     The result may not quite give the Wearsiders a sweet ending to what has been a sour week, following allegations of sexual assault and drug possession against defender Titus Bramble, but it does at least demonstrate that their spirit remains strong in the face of adversity.

• rape
• sex attack
• sexual abuse
• sexual violence
• indecent assault