Sexual Violence
Sexual violence is defined by the WHO as any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, or other act directed against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting. It spans a wide continuum — rape and attempted rape, sexual assault and unwanted sexual contact, sexual coercion, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse, forced marriage, and the denial of contraception or sexual-health protection. Because consent is central, the defining feature is the absence of freely given agreement rather than the presence of physical force. It can be perpetrated by an intimate partner — overlapping with Intimate Partner Violence — or by acquaintances and strangers (non-partner sexual violence).
It is a major and persistently under-reported form of Gender-Based Violence. WHO estimates that about 8% of women aged 15 and over (roughly 263 million) have experienced non-partner sexual violence at least once since age 15, and that around 31.6% of women worldwide have experienced partner violence or non-partner sexual violence over their lifetime. Children are also heavily affected: a 2023 global analysis estimated lifetime prevalence of childhood sexual violence at about 18.9% for girls and 14.8% for boys. Stigma, fear and disbelief mean recorded figures substantially understate the true scale, shaping how survivor-centred Reporting and Disclosure tools must be designed.
In this vault
- Subtype ofGender-Based Violence
- Related toIntimate Partner Violence
- Addressed byReporting and Disclosure
- Related toEvidence Documentation