Illegal sexual contact that usually involves force upon a person without consent or is inflicted upon a person who is incapable of giving consent (as because of age or physical or mental incapacity) or who places the assailant (such as a doctor) in a position of trust or authority

What does sexual assault include?

Sexual assault can include.

• Any type of sexual contact with someone who cannot consent, such as someone who is underage (as defined by state laws), has an intellectual disability, or is passed out (such as from drugs or alcohol) or unable to respond (such as from sleeping)
• Any type of sexual contact with someone who does not consent
• Rape
• Attempted rape
• Sexual coercion
• Sexual contact with a child
• Fondling or unwanted touching above or under clothes

Sexual assault can also be verbal, visual, or non-contact. It is anything that forces a person to join in unwanted sexual activities or attention. Other examples can include:⁴

• Voyeurism, or peeping (when someone watches private sexual acts without consent)
• Exhibitionism (when someone exposes himself or herself in public)
• Sexual harassment or threats
• Forcing someone to pose for sexual pictures
• Sending someone unwanted texts or “sexts” (texting sexual photos or messages)

What is sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment means unwanted, inappropriate sexual advances, including suggestive gestures, language, or touching.

Often, it’s used as a way to humiliate, insult, or degrade someone, or it’s done by someone who shouldn’t be making sexual advances — like your boss, someone older, a teacher, or someone else who has more power than you, even if it’s just more social power.

But it doesn’t just happen at work or school. It can happen anywhere — in public and private, among friends, or from strangers on the street.

What should I do if I experience sexual assault or harassment?

If you’ve experienced sexual assault or harassment, it’s not your fault. Know that you’re not alone and that there are people who will believe you and who are ready to help you if you want.

Your nearest Planned Parenthood health center can give you medical attention and connect you with services in your area. If you want to talk with someone anonymously, The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) has 24/7 phone and chat hotlines for people who have experienced sexual assault.What can I do if I have been sexually assaulted?

If it has just happened then:

• If you are able to, get to a place where you will be safe.
• Dial 999 and ask for police.
• Do not shower or bathe as that may destroy forensic evidence.
• Try to avoid going to the toilet as that may also destroy forensic evidence.
• Do not wash or throw away the clothing you were wearing during the assault as you may also destroy forensic evidence.
• Do not tidy up or move things in the place where the sexual assault occurred.

If it has not just happened:

• You can still report a rape or sexual assault if it happened to you days, weeks, months or even years ago.
• Contact the burlington police directly by either phoning or visiting your nearest Police station.

What happens when you contact police?

Contacting Police by phone

• Phone your nearest Police station and tell the person who answers the phone that you want to report a sexual assault.
• They will make an appointment for you to come in to the station or they will arrange for an officer to come to you.
• If your nearest police station is not open 24 hours and you call outside opening hours, there will be a message telling you which other station near you will be open and what number to call.

Contacting Police in person

• Go to your nearest Police station and tell the person on the front counter that you need to speak with a police officer in private to make a report.
• You don’t need to make an appointment and you may be able to speak to an officer straight away.
• You can ask to speak with either a male or female officer and we will do our best to provide this.
• A Police officer will take brief notes of what has happened to decide what to do next, and make sure you are safe.

Domestic assault is not physical violence alone. Domestic assault is any behavior the purpose of which is to gain power and control over a spouse, partner, girl/boyfriend or intimate family member. Abuse is a learned behavior; it is not caused by anger, mental problems, drugs or alcohol, or other common excuses.

Types of Domestic Violence

When the general public thinks about domestic violence, they usually think in terms of physical assault that results in visible injuries to the victim. This is only one type of abuse. There are several categories of abusive behavior, each of which has its own devastating consequences. Legality involved with physical abuse may place the victim at higher risk, but the long term destruction of person hood that accompanies the other forms of abuse is significant and cannot be minimized.

Please explore the following sections to learn more about how to identify domestic violence.

Types of Abuse:

• Control
• Physical Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
• Emotional Abuse & Intimidation
• Isolation
• Verbal Abuse: Coercion, Threats, & Blame
• Using Male Privilege
• Economic Abuse

Control

Controlling behavior is a way for the abuser to maintain dominance over the victim. Controlling behavior, the belief that they are justified in the controlling behavior, and the resultant abuse is the core issue in domestic assault. It is often subtle, almost always insidious, and pervasive. This may include but is not limited to:

• Checking the mileage on the odometer following their use of the car.
• Monitoring phone calls, using caller ID or other number monitoring devises, not allowing the victim to make or receive phone calls.
• Not allowing their freedom of choice in terms of clothing styles or hairstyle. This may include forcing the victim to dress in a specific way such as more seductively or more conservatively than they are comfortable.
• Calling or coming home unexpectedly to check up on them. This may initially start as what appears to be a loving gesture, but becomes a sign of jealousy or possessiveness.
• Invading their privacy by not allowing them time and space of their own.
• Forcing or encouraging dependency by making the victim believe they’re incapable of surviving or performing simple tasks without the abuser or on their own.
• Using the children to control the victim parent by using the children as spies, threatening to kill, hurt or kidnap the children, physical and/or sexual abuse of the children, and threats to call Department of Child Safety (DCS, formerly CPS) if the mother leaves the relationship.

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse basically involves a person using physical force against you, which causes, or could cause, you harm.

Types of physical abuse

Physical abuse can involve any of the following violent acts:

• scratching or biting
• pushing or shoving
• slapping
• kicking
• choking or strangling
• throwing things
• force feeding or denying you food
• using weapons or objects that could hurt you
• physically restraining you (such as pinning you against a wall, floor, bed, etc.)
• reckless driving
• other acts that hurt or threaten you.

Consider a situation of domestic violence. A woman calls the police to report an assault by her husband. It was not the first time he assaulted her, but she did not previously report the abuse. Charges are laid. A psychological assessment is conducted, an expert stating that the defendant has violent tendencies and is likely to re offend. The defendant tells his lawyer that he “will get back at” his wife. With no previous record he is able to voluntarily enter a guilty plea with the Crown, to participate in “rehabilitative” programming for abusive individuals.

After his release from custody he returns home to his wife, who has not received any legal advice through the criminal process. He continues to abuse her, threatening her to dissuade her from calling the police. The psychological assessment and plans of retaliation against his wife did not meet the clear, serious, and imminent requirements of the public safety exception to solicitor-client privilege, so his lawyer did not disclose to the Crown when negotiating the plea. If the defendant were to be charged with domestic violence offences again, he would undoubtedly return to this lawyer who negotiated a lenient plea. His lawyer now has a “rounder” client to support his business, perhaps a factor in deciding that, objectively, the public safety exception need not apply.