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SEXUAL ABUSE
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A statutory offense that provides that it is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat
Example:
most states have replaced the common law definition of rape with statutes defining sexual assault
Synonyms:
sex crime; sex offense; sexual abuse; sexual assault
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("sexual abuse" is a kind of...):
regulatory offence; regulatory offense; statutory offence; statutory offense (crimes created by statutes and not by common law)
Domain category:
jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sexual abuse"):
molestation (the act of subjecting someone to unwanted or improper sexual advances or activity (especially women or children))
assault; rape; ravishment; violation (the crime of forcing a person to submit to sexual intercourse against his or her will)
