Definitions
Affirmative consent is required for all consensual sex. A person does not have to say “no” for it to be rape; they have to say “yes” and freely and actively participate in the sexual act in order for it to be consensual. Consent is mutual agreement. Consent cannot be assumed, cannot be given under pressure, out of fear, or when you are not fully aware of what is going on – like when a person has had too much to drink or has used other drugs. Consent can be revoked at any time and sexual activity must STOP immediately. Silence is not consent.
Sexual assault is a form of Sexual Misconduct which includes unwanted, non-consensual contact including touching, penetration by a person or object either vaginally or anally, and oral sex. It also includes forced touching of another’s body.
Rape is a form of Sexual Misconduct and is non-consensual intercourse that may also involve the use of threat of force, violence, or immediate and unlawful bodily injury, or threats of future retaliation or duress.
Acquaintance rape is a form of Sexual Misconduct and is committed by an individual known to the victim. This includes a person that the victim may have just met (i.e., at a party, introduced through a friend, or on a social networking site).
Dating violence is abuse committed by a person who is or has been in a social or dating relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim.
Stalking involves unwanted and repeated visual or physical proximity, nonconsensual communication, or verbal, written, or implied threats that would cause a reasonable person fear.
Date rape drugs such as alcohol, Ketamine, GHB, and Rophynol are sometimes used to keep a person from resisting, or even to render the victim unconscious. Alcohol, however, is the #1 date rape drug. The fact that a student was drunk does not negate the experience of rape.
Hamby, S. & Gray-Little, B. (2000). Labeling partner violence: When do victims differentiate among acts? Violence and Victims, 15(2), 173-187.
Jordan, C., Wilcox, P., & Pritchard, A. (2007). Stalking acknowledgement and reporting among college women experiencing intrusive behaviors: Implications for the emergence of a classic stalking case. Journal of Criminal Justice, 35, 556-569.
Richards, T., Branch, K., & Hayes, R. (2013). An exploratory examination of student to professor disclosures of crime victimization. Violence Against Women, 19(11), 1408-1422.