At JWA, we understand sexual violence to be any sexual act where there is no consent. Consent involves choosing to agree to a sexual act without feeling threatened or coerced, and having the freedom and capacity to make that choice.
What is sexual violence
Forms of sexual violence may include:
- Rape
- Sexual assault
- Assault by penetration
- Child sexual abuse
- Child sexual exploitation
- Sexual harassment
- Female genital mutilation
- Forced prostitution and trafficking
Sexual violence is defined as “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work.”
The World Health Organisation, 2002
The impact of sexual violence
Sexual violence can have a range of impacts on many aspects of your life. You may feel loss, anger, self-blame, shame, or symptoms of anxiety or trauma. You may avoid certain situations or places, you may feel like harming yourself. Whatever you feel and however you are coping is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. You are surviving.
Getting support
Some women reach out straightaway for support, others do so when they are triggered by an event or a smell, for example.
For some women, it takes years of building up the courage to share what they’ve been through or to be willing to revisit the trauma of what happened.
Whenever you come to us, we are here for you.
