Sexual Assault

Sexual Assault described in technical terms is defined as any sort of sexual activity between two or more people in which one of the people involved is involved against his or her will. (3) The description of "against his or her will" extends to varying degrees of aggression, ranging from indirect pressure to a direct physical attack. While sexual assaults are associated with the crime of rape, it may cover assaults which would not be considered rape. What constitutes a sexual assault is determined by the laws of the jurisdiction where the assault takes place, which vary considerably, and are influenced by local social and cultural attitudes. Every year, an estimated 300,000 women are raped and 3.7 million are confronted with unwanted sexual activity. In addition, of the approximately 900,000 children who are maltreated each year, 9% are sexually abused. Depending on jurisdiction, sexual assault may include rape, forced vaginal, anal or oral penetration, forced sexual intercourse, inappropriate touching, forced kissing, Child sexual abuse, or the torture of the victim in a sexual manner. According to the Crime Victim Research and Treatment Center 1.3 adult women are sexually assaulted in the United States every minute. Of these assaults 84% of the attacks occur by someone the victim knows. The Senate Judiciary Committee the United States sighted the United States as having the highest rate of sexual assaults per capita in the world. Unfortunately the majority of sexual assaults that occur against women go unreported. Only 31% of sexual assaults that occurred in 1996 were reported to law enforcement authorities. The problem of sexual assault is increasing. In the year 2000 the number of sexual assaults against women had increased by 16.5%.
Sexual assaults on children are normally viewed far more seriously than those on an adult. This is because of the innocence of the child victim, and also because of the long-term psychological impact that such assaults have on