What is sexual abuse?

Sexual abuse is:

  • Acts of a sexual nature, with or without physical contact;
  • Consensual and non-consensual sexual acts and in some cases, especially where children are concerned, through emotional manipulation or blackmail;
  • Acts in which a person subjects another to his/her own desires through the abuse of power, or the use of force or constraint, or the use of implicit or explicit threat;
  • An attack on a person's basic rights, particularly on one's physical and psychological integrity, and one's personal security.

This definition applies regardless of the:

  • Age, gender, culture, religion, and sexual orientation of the offender or victim;
  • Type of sexual act committed or the social context in which it was committed;
  • Relationship between the victim and the sexual offender.

Sexual abuse may involve one or several types of sexual acts/behaviours.

Acts or behaviours that could be considered sexual abuse:

  • Touching
  • Sexualized kissing
  • Masturbation
  • Oral-genital contacts
  • Penetration or attempted penetration
  • Sexualized gestures that are not age-appropriate
  • Exhibitionism
  • Voyeurism
  • Touching, parts of the body, particularly the breasts, buttocks, penis, vulva, anus
  • Sexualized kissing
  • Masturbation of a child by the offender, or of the offender by the child
  • Oral-genital contact:
    • Fellatio: sexual activity in which the child's or the offender's penis is stimulated by the other's mouth
    • Cunnilingus: stimulation of the girl's genitals by the offender's mouth
  • Vaginal penetration with a penis, fingers or objects
  • Anal penetration with a penis, fingers or objects
  • Child pornography: taking pictures/recordings of a naked child or watching pornographic material with a child
  • Exhibitionism: offender exposing his genitals to the child
  • Voyeurism: offender observing a naked child
Sources