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The 14 types of rape and sexual violence

The 14 types of rape and sexual violence

March 28, 2024

It is estimated that, in Spain, a woman is raped every eight hours . And that only in a single country. In another area, between ten and twenty percent of the population has suffered some type of sexual abuse in childhood.

These data reflect that rape and sexual abuse are crimes that are not as infrequent as most people seem to think. But these acts do not always occur in the same way: those who carry out these acts, the type of relationship they maintain with the victim and the elements used in forcing the action diverge to a great extent, so that they can be considered to exist very various types of rape and sexual violence.

Conceptualizing rape and sexual violence

Sexual violence is considered to be any situation in which an individual is forced to have sexual relations with another person against their will, using force, threats, physical or psychological impairment of the victim, blackmail or coercion.


One of the most well-known forms of sexual violence is rape , in which the sexual act is carried out in a forced manner. Also included in this category is all that type of sexual relationship in which one of the subjects is not able to give or deny consent due to alterations of conscience, lack of it or inability to understand or be responsible for their own acts.

Psychological and legal effects

This type of acts is a serious crime punishable by law that can produce serious alterations to those who suffer, both in the short and long term. These alterations are both physical, psychic and emotional, producing a very significant interference in the normative activity of the victim. It is frequent the appearance of reexperimentation of what happened, feelings of shortening of the future, a high level of anxiety and dissociative episodes. One of the most frequent disorders suffered by those who are sexually assaulted is post-traumatic stress disorder.


Many of the people who suffer these crimes are not able to denounce them due to an accumulation of circumstances such as self-blame, fear of reprisals, fear of not being believed or the absence of social support. In fact, it is estimated that around 80% of cases are not reported , although in recent times there has been a rebound in the number of complaints made.

Types of rape and sexual violence

Although the fundamental concept of the act will be in all cases the same, the characteristics of each type of sexual assault can be very different.

It is because of that it is possible to establish the existence of different types of rape or sexual assault . Here are some of them.

1. Violation by spouse or partner

In many cases, rapes or sexual assaults are committed by subjects with whom the victim maintains a relationship. In these cases, the rapist usually believes that he possesses a certain right to sexually dispose of his partner, ignoring the opinion and consent of the latter in this regard.


Threat, undervaluation, manipulation, coercion or brute force is used to consume the sexual act . It is a type of physical and psychological abuse sometimes carried out as a mechanism of manifestation of power or even as an attempt by an abuser to be reconciled by force.

2. Sexual aggression against individuals with altered consciousness

Some of the violations that are carried out are linked to states in which the subject sexually assaulted is not in a position to give or not consent for not having a sufficient level of consciousness. This type of violations can occur while the victim is sleeping or convalescing due to an illness, intoxication in which he is not able to perceive the situation correctly.

Within this category we can find the sexual aggression carried out through the use of substances. This type of sexual assault refers to the use of substances (including alcohol and other drugs) with psychoactive effects in order to alter the level of consciousness of the victim and consummate the act taking advantage of this alteration.

3. Child sexual aggression

Pedophilia is a crime in which a minor is used as a sexual object by an adult, taking advantage of the difference in age, knowledge, maturity and / or power.

It is usually carried out by people from the nearby environment , with which the sexual aggression occurs in a context of abuse of trust. Although sometimes physical force is used in its majority, the link between victim and attacker or between attacker and close friends to the victim is exploited, using manipulation and coercion.In the case of child sexual assault, the child is not sufficiently aware of what a sexual relationship entails to be able to give or deny consent.

4. Rape

It is called estupro to practice sexual activities between an adult and a minor in which the latter gives his consent to the consummation of the act due to the seduction and manipulation carried out by the adult. The basic difference with child sexual aggression is that while in this the child is not aware of what it means to have sex, in the rape itself.

5. Incestuous sexual aggression

Generally linked to the practice of pedophilia or child sexual assault, This type of abuse is carried out by the most significant people of the victim of sexual assault , taking advantage of this relationship to manipulate the individual and force their consent. Sometimes it is carried out by force, with the knowledge that the report is unlikely due to the importance of the aggressor for the victim.

6. Assault on people with disabilities

In many cases people with disabilities can be victims of sexual harassment and assault . Due to his disability, an aggressor can find greater facilities to force a sexual relationship. One of the most frequent cases of this type of sexual assault is towards people with intellectual disabilities.

Even if they can consent to the sexual act, if the aggressor takes advantage of a difference in the intellectual capacities and of the lack of understanding of the act to coerce the individual and manipulate him, he would be carrying out an abuse that can be classified as rape.

7. Sexual aggression against the elderly

Elderly people are also frequent victims of sexual abuse . Due to a lower physical capacity than in youth, the elderly are a population to which some rapists may have easy access and may be more physically dominated.

In addition, in many cases the abusers can get to take advantage of the state of cognitive deterioration characteristic of individuals with advanced dementia, having an abuse of power.

8. Sexual assault

This type of violation refers to that whose objective is not specifically the obtaining of gratification , whether sexual or derived from the need for power, but carried out with a specific objective. Examples of this are obtaining an economic benefit or causing damages to third parties linked to the victim.

9. Sexual assault as a hate crime

Sometimes rape is used as a method of attack or humiliation towards a person belonging to a specific group . This type of sexual assault incorporates a component of hatred or contempt towards this group. Examples of this can be found in sexual violence against women, against LGBT people or against individuals belonging to ethnic minorities.

10. Sexual harassment

In sexual harassment the aggressor subject proceeds to manifest a series of behaviors and attitudes that cause in the victim sensations of fear, insecurity or anguish . Although it does not have to involve the presence of a real sexual contact (that is, it may or may not include the presence of rape), the behaviors manifested affect the habitual development of the victim's activity.

The type of conduct carried out includes the request for sexual relations, unwanted touching and / or touching, persistent lewd contacts, promises or performance of favors in exchange or with the intention of forcing relationships or the use of direct or indirect coercion. It usually occurs in academic or work environments.

11. Violation by strangers

This type of violation is one of the most known by the majority of the population, although it is one of the least common . In it, a person without a previous connection with the victim uses force, threats, coercion or other means to force her to have sexual relations.

The aggressor may have cited with the victim for a different purpose, finish knowing her or even assault her directly. The rape can be carried out in the street, a public place, a vehicle or even in the home of the victim if it is attacked at home (with or without breaking and entering). In some of these cases, psychoactive substances are used.

12. Group rape

Situation in which a group of individuals decides to force one or more people to have sex , taking advantage of the strength and the number of individuals to intimidate or even force physically to undertake the sexual act.

13. Rape during wars

There is a high number of violations during wars and armed conflicts . Regardless of the sexual abuse committed as a method of obtaining sexual gratification or dominance by the abuser, in many cases the violations are encouraged in order to diminish the morale of the local population, so that the conflict is facilitated and the resistance on the part of the attacked side.

14. Sexual exploitation

Another type of sexual violence is the one carried out by having the victim maintain forced relationships with another or other persons, the exploiter obtaining benefits from said relationship and being the one that forces or incites the victim to maintain relationships. Forced prostitution is one of these types of violence.

Bibliographic references:

  • Burguess, A. G .; Burgess, A.W .; Douglas, J. & Ressler, R. (1992). Crime Classification Manual. Lexington Books.
  • Krug, E.G. et al. (2002), eds. World report on violence and health. Geneva, World Health Organization.
  • Marshall, W. (2001). Sexual aggressors Studies on violence. Ed. Ariel. p. 107
  • World Health Organization (2013). Understand and address violence against women. Sexual violence Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization.
  • World Health Organization. (2011). Violence against women: partner violence and sexual violence against women. Descriptive note N °. 239. September 2011 update. Geneva, World Health Organization.

I Am A Victim Of Sexual Assault. | MyLifeAsEva (March 2024).


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