What Is The Abbreviation for Sexual Assault?

Sexual assault is an incredibly nuanced and complicated issue. It has so many different definitions, as well as blanketing a whole host of inappropriate and harmful behaviors. So, What Is The Abbreviation for Sexual Assault?

Those who have been victims of sexual assault often experience a range of other abusive acts. These can be both physically and emotionally damaging.

If you want to find out more about sexual assault, including the most commonly used abbreviation for this type of inappropriate behavior, keep reading below, as we take a closer look.

What Is Sexual Assault Abbreviation?

For those of you out there who have previously researched and read about sexual assault, you may have come across its abbreviated format.

Some people when writing about sexual assault, will simply type or write SA in its place. This is far quicker and easier than writing out the elongated format when discussing the topic at length.

What Is Sexual Assault?

As we previously mentioned above, because sexual assault covers such a wide array of different inappropriate and harmful behaviors, some might not know each of its definitions.

Sexual assault is essentially inappropriate touching or fondling of another individual.

This doesn’t need to involve the perpetrator using their hands and could consist of them rubbing their genitals against the victim without consent.

Sexual assault can also mean coercing the victim into performing sexual acts.

These sexual acts could mean performing oral sex on the abuser or being forced to touch the abuser in a sexual manner.

Abusers usually use manipulation tactics, such as guilt or threats in order to make the victim comply.

Touching another person’s genitalia, buttocks, or breasts also classifies as sexual assault.

However, the abuser doesn’t necessarily need to touch one of these areas for it to be considered sexual assault. Touching a victim’s back or head in a sexually implicit manner can also be classified as assault.

In addition, kissing can be considered to be sexual assault, as well as playing with the victim’s clothing, like lifting their dress up.

In some areas of England in the UK, assault also covers sexual coercion. This means forcing an individual to perform a sexual act on themselves, while the abuser observes.

This typically involves the victim being forced to masturbate in front of the abuser, or even being forced to have sex with another person while they watch.

This often happens in domestic relationships, and the victim has been in an abusive partnership with the perpetrator.

Is Rape The Same As Sexual Assault?

Many people will be curious as to whether or not rape is classified as a form of sexual assault. The simple answer is, yes, rape is a form of sexual assault.

However, not all forms of sexual assault are considered to be rape.

In order for a sexual act to be considered rape, the abuser is required to penetrate either the vagina or anus either with their own penis, or an object.

It doesn’t matter how slight or fast the penetration is, just that it happened against the victim’s consent.

Because the majority of rape cases are domestic, many people don’t realize that they’re the victims of sexual assault or rape because they’re in a relationship with the abuser.

It is important to note that any sexual act that is against your direct will or wishes is considered to be assault.

Does Assault Need To Include Force?

Many women who have been the subject of sexual assault by their partners might ask the question of whether or not the abuse needs to include force to be valid.

The answer is, absolutely not. Although many abusers will physically pin down their victims in order to conduct immoral acts, the majority will just use coercion.

Indeed, many abusers will ply their victims with drugs or alcohol before the act so that they’re unable to protest.

As well as this, some will guilt their partners into having sex with them, or even go so far as to threaten them or their friends and family.

Any kind of bullying, intimidation, or pressure applied by the abusing party is wrong and is considered to be sexual assault.

Victims should seek help if they have been the subject of these kinds of behaviors.

Who Commits These Crimes?

As we mentioned above, around 8 out of 10 assault cases happen with somebody the victim is familiar with.

More often than not, the offending party is the victim’s partner and somebody they’ve been in a relationship with for quite some time.

Oftentimes, sexual assault will be accompanied by other forms of abuse, such as physical abuse, emotional abuse, or financial abuse.

Recovering From Sexual Assault

Sexual assault can be an incredibly traumatizing experience, especially if the incidents that took place were domestic and happened repeatedly.

Many victims will be led to question their sanity, their self worth and their judgment after they free themselves from these abusive relationships.

There are, however, some things that you can do to aid your recovery. The first of which includes speaking with family and friends.

Talking about what happened with trusted family members can help ease the burden that comes with being abused.

Hiding your feelings and the experiences that you had can be incredibly toxic, as it bottles them all up and perpetuates the feelings of guilt that victims often have.

This brings us to our next point which is dealing with the shame and guilt that you’re experiencing.

Many who have experienced sexual assault will get flashbacks, and these are often followed by feelings that lower our self-worth.

It’s important to catch yourself in these moments and remind yourself that what happened wasn’t your fault. The only person to blame is your abuser.

Finally, another way to cope with the abuse that you suffered is by engaging in mindfulness exercises.

In order to perform these exercises, simply sit somewhere quiet and comfortable where you can focus on your breathing.

After you’ve done this, take a deep breath through your nose whilst counting to four. After this, you can go ahead and hold your breath for a total of 7 seconds.

After you’ve held your breath for the correct amount of time, you can exhale whilst counting to 8.

You can perform this activity as many times as you need to until you feel comfortable and relaxed again.

It’s been proven that breathing exercises such as these ones can be incredibly beneficial for those who suffer from PTSD, and the flashbacks that accompany it.

Final Thoughts

To sum up, many people when talking about sexual assault will use the abbreviation SA.

Sexual assault covers a whole host of different harmful behaviors, including inappropriate touching, rape, and coercion.

Most incidents of sexual assaults take place in a domestic setting, where the victim knows the perpetrator or is in a relationship with them.

As a result, many other kinds of abuse accompany the sexual assault experienced by the victim.

Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) is the nation’s largest organization fighting sexual violence: (800) 656-HOPE / (800) 810-7440 (TTY)

988 Mental Health Emergency Hotline: Calling 988 will connect you to a crisis counselor regardless of where you are in the United States.

911 Emergency

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine: 1-800-950-NAMI, or text “HELPLINE” to 62640.Both services available between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. ET, Monday–Friday

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255); www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org. Or, just dial 988

Suicide Prevention, Awareness, and Support: www.suicide.org

Crisis Text Line: Text REASON to 741741 (free, confidential and 24/7). In English and Spanish

Self-Harm Hotline: 1-800-DONT CUT (1-800-366-8288)

Family Violence Helpline: 1-800-996-6228

Planned Parenthood Hotline: 1-800-230-PLAN (7526)

American Association of Poison Control Centers: 1-800-222-1222

National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependency: 1-800-622-2255

LGBTQ Hotline: 1-888-843-4564

National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262)

The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 678678. Standard text messaging rates apply. Available 24/7/365. (Provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning—LGBTQ—young people under 25.)

The SAGE LGBT Elder Hotline connects LGBT older people and caretakers with friendly responders. 1-877-360-LGBT (5428)

The Trans Lifeline is staffed by transgender people for transgender people:
1-877-565-8860 (United States)
1-877-330-6366 (Canada)

Veterans Crisis Line: https://www.veteranscrisisline.net

International Suicide Prevention Directory: findahelpline.com

The StrongHearts Native Helpline is a confidential and anonymous culturally appropriate domestic violence and dating violence helpline for Native Americans, available every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. CT. Call 1-844-762-8483.

‘Find a Therapist’ Online Directories

• Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists
• GoodTherapy.org: http://www.goodtherapy.org/find-therapist.html
• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy: https://aamft.org/Directories/Find_a_Therapist.asp

Canada

• Emergency: 911
• Hotline: 1-888-353-2273
• YourLifeCounts.org: https://yourlifecounts.org/find-help/

UK & Republic of Ireland

• Emergency: 112 or 999
• Hotline: +44 (0) 8457 90 90 90 (UK – local rate)
• Hotline: +44 (0) 8457 90 91 92 (UK minicom)
• Hotline: 1850 60 90 90 (ROI – local rate)
• Hotline: 1850 60 90 91 (ROI minicom)
• YourLifeCounts.org: https://yourlifecounts.org/find-help/