An all-encompassing term that refers to acts such as sexual harassment, sexual abuse, rape, and sexual assault. It is a sexual act(s) committed against someone without that person’s freely given consent. Sexual/sexualized violence refers to any violence (physical or psychological) that is carried out through sexual means or by targeting sexuality. Sexual/sexualized violence can also include sexual exploitation by helping professionals, professional/workplace sexual exploitation, military sexual trauma, prisoner sexual assault, and sexual assault of the elderly and/or differently-abled individuals.
