Sexual assault definition

“Sexual assault is an act that is sexual in nature, with or without physical contact, committed by an individual without the consent of the victim or in some cases through emotional manipulation or blackmail, especially when children are involved.”

“It is an act that subjects another person to the perpetrator’s desires through an abuse of power and/or the use of force or coercion, accompanied by implicit or explicit threats.”

“It is a dehumanizing experience and a profound violation of a human being. Some victims state that the assault changed them and took something fundamental away.” *

CALACS consider sexual assault as an act of domination, humiliation, abuse of power, and violence mainly directed at women and children. Sexual assault means imposing attitudes, words, or gestures with sexual connotations against someone’s will using intimidation, manipulation, threat, blackmail or verbal, physical or psychological violence. Anyone can be the victim of a sexual assault regardless of age, physical appearance, cultural background, global state of health, sexual orientation, etc. Sexual assault can also happen at anytime, anywhere: in a house, on the street, at work and at any time of the day or night. Finally, there are many different relations between an assailant and their victim, as the assailant is often a friend, a boyfriend, a member of the family, an acquaintance, an employer, a colleague, a neighbour, a professional that you are consulting, or a stranger.

Consenting to a sexual relationship implies a voluntary consent of the person to the sexual act. A person that agrees to a sexual act can withdraw their consent at any time and end the sexual act. If the consent is obtained through threatening, intimidation, abuse of power and authority (a teacher, a coach, etc.), fear, any form of intoxication, or given by a child under 14, the law does no recognize the consent as freewill but as a sexual assault. Finally, law requires that the person wanting the sexual relationship take all necessary measures to ensure the genuine consent of the other.

* Government of Quebec. What is sexual assault? Ministry of Health and Social Services. 2008.