Definitions

Sexual Assault

¹²Sexual violence is any unwanted or non-consensual sexual act. Sexual violence can be committed by acquaintances, casual or long-term dating partners, spouses or strangers. The use of alcohol, by either party, in conjunction with an incident of sexual violence, does not mitigate responsibility or diminish the seriousness of the offense. Examples of sexual violence include, but are not limited to:

non-consensual, intentional contact with intimate body parts [sexual battery]
non-consensual, intentional penetration with a foreign object [aggravated sexual battery]
non-consensual penetration of the female sex organ by the male sex organ [rape]
non-consensual oral or anal sexual acts [aggravated sodomy]
sexual intercourse with any person under the age of 16 [statutory rape]
sexual acts with or in the presence of a child under the age of 16 with intent to arouse or satisfy desires of either child or person [child molestation]
lewd exposure of sexual organs in public [public indecency]

Consent is defined as clearly communicating agreement or permission to participate in sexual activity. The individuals consenting must act freely and voluntarily and have knowledge of the nature of the act or transaction involved. Such consent may be withdrawn at any time, without regard to activity preceding the withdrawal of consent. A current or previous intimate relationship is not sufficient to constitute consent. Consent may not be inferred from silence or passivity alone. Non-consent occurs when the complaining party is prevented from resisting or giving consent as a result of intoxication, or is unconscious at the time of the act, and this fact is known to the person committing the act. It is a violation of this policy to engage in any form of sexual activity without the consent of the other person.

Coercion is the use of physical force, threat, intimidation, or exploitation of a person's mental or physical impairment of which the accused was aware or should have been aware. Mental or physical impairment refers to the victim's inability to understand the situation, understand the consequences of his/her choices, or to express his/her desires. This may include, but is not limited to, intoxication, being under the influence of drugs, unconsciousness, or other cognitive impairment, or being under the age of consent in the State of Georgia. The use of coercion in a sexual encounter constitutes a lack of consent.

¹³Legal Definition of Rape:

(a) A person commits the offense of rape when he has carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Carnal knowledge in rape occurs when there is any penetration of the female sex organ by the male organ. The fact that the person allegedly raped is the wife of the defendant shall not be a defense to change of rape.

(b) A person convicted of the offense of rape shall be punished by death, by imprisonment for life, or by imprisonment for not less than ten nor more 20 years. Any person convicted under this Code section shall, in addition, be subject to the sentencing and punishment provisions of Code Sections 17-10-7

¹⁴Sexual assault
Sexual assault is unwanted sexual contact that stops short of rape or attempted rape. This includes sexual touching and fondling. (But, be aware: Some states use this term interchangeably with rape.)

Incest
Incest is sexual contact between persons who are so closely related that their marriage is illegal ( e.g., parents and children, uncles/aunts and nieces/nephews, etc.). This usually takes the form of an older family member sexually abusing a child or adolescent.

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Child Trafficking

⁹Human trafficking is modern-day exploitation and enslavement of human beings that involves obtaining or maintaining the labor or service of another through force, fraud or coercion in violation of another's human rights.

¹⁰"Sex trafficking" means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.

"Commercial sex act" means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person.

"Coercion" means (a) threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; (b) any scheme, plan or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; or (c) the abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.

¹¹Traffickers use various techniques to instill fear in victims and to keep them enslaved. Some traffickers keep their victims under lock and key. However, the more frequent practice is to use less obvious techniques including:

Debt bondage - financial obligations, honor-bound to satisfy debt
Isolation from the public - limiting contact with outsiders and making sure that any contact is monitored or superficial in nature
Isolation from family members and members of their ethnic and religious community
Confiscation of passports, visas and/or identification documents
Use or threat of violence toward victims and/or families of victims
The threat of shaming victims by exposing circumstances to family
Telling victims they will be imprisoned or deported for immigration violations if they contact authorities
Control of the victims' money, e.g., holding their money for "safe-keeping"

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