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Sexual abuse (also referred to as molestation) is defined by the forcing of undesired sexual acts by one person to another. The term incest is defined as sexual abuse between family members, and the slang term "bad touch" is used to describe such abuse.

Different types of sexual abuse involve:

• Non-consensual, forced physical sexual behavior such as rape or sexual assault
• Psychological forms of abuse, such as verbal sexual behavior or stalking.
• The use of a position of trust for sexual purposes.

The most visible signs of sexual abuse are signs of injury to parts of the body that can be covered by a bathing suit. Pregnancy may also result.

Contents 1 Spousal sexual abuse 2 Therapist abuse 3 Students and sexual harassment 4 Sexual abuse of minors 5 Further reading 6 External links

[edit] Spousal sexual abuse

Main article: Spousal abuse

Spousal abuse is the term applied to the specific form of domestic violence, where physical or sexual abuse is perpetrated by one spouse upon another. Frequently this involves forced sex (spousal rape) upon a spouse without their consent.

[edit] Therapist abuse

Clients within psychological therapy may be sexually abused by their therapists. See Sexual abuse in therapy

[edit] Students and sexual harassment

Students may be the victims of unwanted sexual attention by teachers and professors, see Sexual harassment by teachers.

Because students and faculty members have unequal power and authority, flirtatious and sexual behavior by a faculty member toward a student is often classified as a misuse of power, and may carry serious consequences such as the filing of charges of sexual harassment and/or termination of employment.

[edit] Sexual abuse of minors

Main article: Child sexual abuse

In the majority of cultures and countries, sex is legal and acceptable only if both parties give consent.

The age of consent, that is, the age at which the law presumes a person has the physical, emotional and sexual maturity to make an informed adult decision to enter into sexual activity, differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, from a low teenage in Italy and Spain to a mid to high teens age elsewhere, for example 16 in the United Kingdom, 17 in Ireland, 18 in India. (Some states also provide different ages of consent for homosexual boys as against heterosexual boys and girls.) Yet separately the law may specify a different age where a teenager ceases to be a child and becomes an adult. As a result, where a difference exists, it may be perfectly legal to have sex with a child where the individual, though still deemed a child in law, is above the age of consent specified in local legislation. In most cases, the age of consent and statutory rape laws aim at protecting children and teenagers from exploitation, particularly physical or psychological exploitation involving sexual behavior.

[edit] Further reading

• Aba, C. (1992). Sexual Assaults on Students. London: Harper and Row.
• Billie Wright Dzeich and Linda Weiner, 1984 (2nd ed. 1990). The Lecherous Professor: Sexual Harassment on Campus. Boston: Beacon Press.
• Doris Van Stone, (1990). No Place to Cry: The Hurt and Healing of Sexual Abuse. Moody Publishers.
• Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson: The Assault on Truth: Freud's Suppression of the Seduction Theory (1984) ISBN 0-374-10642-8, (2003 Ballantine Books, ISBN 0345452798)

[edit] External links

• RAINN - The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
• The Awareness Center, Inc. - The Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault
• Sexual Abuse of Males website
• Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse
• Liberated From Abuse--Sexual Abuse Education
• Living With Your Partner's PTSD: When The Woman You Love is a Victim

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Sexual abuse. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.