sexual assault, illegal form of sexual contact initiated or performed without the appropriate consent of the victim. Acts of sexual assault may be undertaken or facilitated through physical force, psychological coercion or manipulation, deception, or the victim’s incapacity to give consent (e.g., because of age or a debilitating physical or mental state, including unconsciousness). Although consent is commonly understood as a freely expressed agreement combined with a complete understanding of the activities that a person is consenting to, the legal definition varies between countries, states, and cities. Indeed, many U.S. states have no legal definition of consent at all.

Sexual assault as a legal category encompasses a broad range of sexual acts, including intercourse or other forms of penetration; oral sex or contact; fondling or groping; and kissing. Rape is thus a form of sexual assault, though not all forms of sexual assault constitute rape. Sexual assault is distinguished from sexual harassment, which encompasses unwanted and annoying or upsetting sexual advances and related behavior.

A few U.S. states prosecute rape and sexual assault under different laws. Although sexual assault is most commonly prosecuted as a criminal offense, some states also allow it to be prosecuted as a civil offense. Whether criminal or civil, however, the victim’s ability to file a suit depends on the relevant statute of limitations in a given state. Such deadlines range from one to 20 years after the date of the incident, though a handful of states have no statute of limitations for such crimes.

Some forms of sexual assault, including rape, can be classified as statutory if the act occurs when the victim is under the legal age of consent. In cases of statutory sexual assault, the question of consent is irrelevant, as the victim is legally incapable of giving it. The age of consent in most countries is 14 to 18 years old, though some have set it as low as 12. In the United States, the age of consent varies among states and ranges from 16 to 18 years old. Some states that have statutes of limitations for other forms of sexual assault have no such statutes for sexual assault involving underage victims.

Approximately 80 percent of all sexual assaults are committed by someone whom the victim knows. When such crimes involve rape, they are often referred to as “acquaintance rape” or “date rape.” Perpetrators of acquaintance or date rape sometimes attempt to subdue their victims by spiking their food or drink with alcohol or drugs or injecting them with drugs without their knowledge or consent. Some commonly used drugs include gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), ketamine, and flunitrazepam. Many of these drugs are odorless, tasteless, and colorless; they also tend to be processed in the body fairly quickly, making it difficult to detect them in subsequent tests.

Sexual assault can also be perpetrated by someone unknown to the victim. The multiple forms of such crimes include what is called “blitz sexual assault” (in which the victim is suddenly assaulted), “contact sexual assault” (in which the perpetrator contacts and tries to gain the trust of the victim before committing an assault), and “home invasion sexual assault” (in which the perpetrator breaks into the victim’s home to commit an assault).

According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), one in every six women in the United States has experienced rape or attempted rape in her lifetime. Black and LGBTQ women, especially transgender women, are at a higher risk of rape and other forms of sexual assault. Sexual assault affects men, too; one in every 33 men in the United States has experienced sexual assault or attempted sexual assault in his lifetime. The majority of sexual assaults, however, are committed by men against women. People who have experienced sexual assault are more likely than the general population to develop mental illnesses, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder. It can also affect one’s performance in school or at work.

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Sexual assault is a particularly common crime on college campuses. According to the American Psychological Association, campus sexual assault accounts for more than 40 percent of all on-campus crimes in the United States. A period marking the beginning of the school year (mid-August to November), known as the Red Zone, is when 50 percent of on-campus sexual assaults occur.