University Health Center : University of Maryland

Office of the Victim Advocate

Sexual Assualt

What Is Sexual Assault

Sexual assault is an umbrella term for all violence that contains an element of sexual gratification. Any type of sexual assault is a fundamental violation of a person's right to control his or her own body.

University Of Maryland Policies

Sexual Assault I: Any act of rape, forcible sexual penetration, however slight, of another person's anal or genital opening with any object by a stranger or acquaintance.
Sexual Assault II: Any act, by a stranger or acquaintance, of touching an unwilling person's intimate parts (defined as genitalia, groin, breast, or buttocks or clothing covering them) or of forcing an unwilling person to touch another's intimate parts.

Maryland Laws

Definitions

Vaginal intercourse: Penetration, however slight, of a vagina by a penis, regardless of whether semen is emitted.
Sexual act: An act, for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification, in which an object penetrates, however slightly, another's genital opening or anus, regardless of whether semen is emitted; Oral sex performed on either a male or a female and anal intercourse
Sexual contact: An act, for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification, in which part of a person's body (except the penis, mouth, or tongue) touches or penetrates another person's genital opening or anus; Digital penetration of a person's vagina or anus
Mentally incapacitated individual: Person who, because of a drug, narcotic, or intoxicating substance, is rendered substantially incapable of evaluating their conduct or resisting vaginal intercourse, a sexual act, or a sexual contact; Someone who has been given a drug without their knowledge
Physically helpless individual: Person who is unconscious or is physically unable to resist or communicate an unwillingness to submit to vaginal intercourse, a sexual act, or a sexual contact; Someone who is in a coma or deep sleep

Law

1^st degree rape: Vaginal intercourse, by force or threat of force, without the consent of the woman and that includes: use or display of a weapon; suffocation, strangulation, disfigurement, or serious physical injury to the victim or another; threat that the victim or another will be imminently subject to death, suffocation, strangulation, disfigurement, serious physical injury, or kidnapping; more than one perpetrator or accomplice; or burglary; Life without parole
2^nd degree rape: Vaginal intercourse, by force or threat of force, without the consent of the woman; OR Vaginal intercourse with a person who is mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless; 20 years imprisonment
1^st degree sexual offense: Sexual act, by force or threat of force, without the consent of another and that includes: use or display of a weapon; suffocation, strangulation, disfigurement, or serious physical injury to the victim or another; threat that the victim or another will be imminently subject to death, suffocation, strangulation, disfigurement, serious physical injury, or kidnapping; more than one perpetrator or accomplice; or burglary; Life without parole
2^nd degree sexual offense: Sexual act, by force or threat of force, without the consent of another; OR Sexual act with a person who is mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless; 20 years imprisonment
3^rd degree sexual offense: Sexual contact with another without consent and that includes: use or display of a weapon; suffocation, strangulation, disfigurement, or serious physical injury to the victim or another; threat that the victim or another will be imminently subject to death, suffocation, strangulation, disfigurement, serious physical injury, or kidnapping; or more than one perpetrator or accomplice. Sexual contact with a person who is mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless; 10 years imprisonment
4^th degree sexual offense: Sexual contact with another without consent; 1-year imprisonment and/or a $1,000 fine


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