Sexual Violence in Close Relationships

Sexual violence refers to any act that violates a person’s sexual autonomy and self-determination, which means any sexual acts that take place without the person’s consent. Such acts may be sexual in nature, involve intimate parts of the body, or include nudity.

Consent means that all parties participate in sexual activity freely and voluntarily, without pressure or coercion. It also means that choosing not to participate does not lead to negative consequences.

Sexual violence includes both physical acts and acts that do not involve physical contact, such as verbal abuse or technology-facilitated abuse. Examples include pressuring or persuading someone into sexual activity, unwanted sexual touching, sharing intimate images without permission, secretly recording sexual activity, and rape.

Rape means engaging in sexual intercourse with another person without their voluntary participation. The key factor is whether consent is present and whether the person is able to express their willingness freely, either through words or behaviour.

Pressure to engage in sexual activity is not always direct. It can also take the form of manipulation. For example, a person may use persuasion, ridicule, guilt, or appeals to sympathy to obtain compliance.

Sex that begins consensually can become non-consensual if one partner does something that the other person has not agreed to or continues after the other person wants to stop. For example, removing a condom without the other person’s consent, or using forceful practices such as choking during sex without prior agreement, turns consensual sexual activity into sexual violence.

Sexual violence in close relationships most commonly occurs between intimate partners. In cases of child sexual abuse, the perpetrator is also often someone close to the child, such as a family member or relative.

Read more about domestic violence

• Domestic violence can affect everyone
• Dynamics of an Abusive Relationship
  • Warning Signs of an Abusive Relationship
• Experiencing Violence and Abuse in a Close Relationship
  • Traumatic Crisis of Domestic Abuse
  • Children and Adolescents as Victims of Domestic Violence
• Forms of Violence and Abuse in Close Relationships
  • Emotional Abuse in Close Relationships
  • Physical Violence in an Intimate Relationship
  • Digital Abuse in Close Relationships
  • Coercive Control in Close Relationships
  • Economic Abuse in Close Relationships
  • Honour Based Abuse in Close Relationships
  • Spiritual or Religious Abuse in an Intimate Relationship
  • Post-Separation Abuse and Stalking in Close Relationships
• Leaving an Abusive Relationship
  • Considering Safety in Situations Involving Domestic Violence and Abuse
  • Advice for Those Supporting a Victim of Domestic Abuse
• Recovering from Abuse and Violence