Noun: sexual abuse
- (law) a statutory offence that provides that it is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat
"most states have replaced the common law definition of rape with statutes defining sexual abuse";
- sexual assault, sex crime, sex offense [US], sex offence [Brit, Cdn], abuse
Derived forms: sexual abuses
Type of: regulatory offence [Brit, Cdn], regulatory offense [US], statutory offence [Brit, Cdn], statutory offense [US]
Encyclopedia: Sexual abuse