Community Corner

What Is Sexual Assault?

Sexual assault is more than rape. Learn more about New Jersey's laws.

While many people think of rape and sexual assault as the same thing, New Jersey law is more nuanced.

Under state law, sexual assault is “any unwanted or forced touching of a person’s intimate body parts,” according to the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

The law makes distinctions between different types and degrees of sexual assault. For example, there is “sexual penetration,” which involves penetration into the victim’s vagina or anus with a body part or object, regardless of the depth of insertion.

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There’s also “sexual contact,” which involves forced touching for the purpose of degrading or humiliating the victim. Sexual contact also includes the perpetrator touching himself or herself in view of the victim, if the intent is to degrade or humiliate.

New Jersey laws also have specific sexual assault clauses that address the age of the victim and perpetrator, the mental capacity of the victim and if injuries occurred during the assault.

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There is no statute of limitations on criminally prosecuting sexual assault, although there is a five-day window to collect physical evidence with a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE), more commonly known as a rape kit. There is a two-year limit for civil action on sexual assault.

To learn more about the legal definitions of sexual assault, visit the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault

 

This is part of a series Patch will run during National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. For more on the series, visit our Out of the Shadows: National Sexual Assault Awareness Month page.


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