Defining Dating Violence and its forms: Sexual
As I mentioned earlier, The definition of dating
violence is important because it must be broad enough to include all forms of dating violence such as sexual, physical, and emotional in order to accurately measure dating violence and its frequency. Sugarman & Hotling (1989) briefly define dating violence as “the perpetration of physical, emotional, or threat abuse by at least one member of an unmarried dating couple.” Notice that this definition does not include the term sexual abuse. Sexual abuse was excluded as its own separate category and until recently it was defined as a form of dating violence because many couples are sexually active or become sexually active by fore, which in turn becomes sexual assault. CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2002) defines sexual assault specifically as:
“An act completed against the victim’s will or when a victim is unable to consent due to
age illness, disability, or the influence of alcohol or other drugs. It may involve actual or
threatened physical force, use of guns or other weapons, coercion, intimidation, or pressure.
Sexual Violence also includes intentional touching of the genitals, anus, and groin, or
breast, against a victim will or when the victim is unable to consent, as well as voyeurism,
exposure to exhibitionism or undesired exposure to pornography. The perpetrator of
sexual violence may be a friend, family member, stranger, or intimate partner.”
Sexual assault in this case is defined in very specific terms and includes a variety of examples. This will help to ensure accurate measurement and higher frequency of sexual abuse. Sexual assault does not necessarily have to mean penetration in this definition. In fact, many couples are sexually assaulted simply through touch such as pining their arms down, grabbing sensitive or sexual parts of the body, and undressing without consent. Basically, if one is touched in an unwanted sexual manner, it is determined as sexual assault.
In order to describe sexual assault take for example, the case study of Mary and Her Frat Bash. Mary a freshman at Florida State University had been drinkin
g tequila before attending a frat party. Her boyfriend, Daniel Oltarsh a junior, age 23, and a brother of Pi Kappa Alpha was her date. He gave her wine and left her in his room. Later he returned and forced Mary to have sex with her. Then he brought her to a frat bathroom and put her in a shower room where two other frat boys had raped her. They used a toothpaste tube as a means of penetration. She was then dumped into another hallway where a second frat house initialed their symbols. As news of these assaults broke out Mary begin to blame herself of the victimization. She tried to change her physical appearance so she wouldn't be recognized but, it did not help. She couldn't cope with this stress anymore and she checked into a psychiatric clinic for depression, bulimia, and alcoholism (Barnett, Perrin & Perrin, 2005).
As I mentioned earlier, The definition of dating
violence is important because it must be broad enough to include all forms of dating violence such as sexual, physical, and emotional in order to accurately measure dating violence and its frequency. Sugarman & Hotling (1989) briefly define dating violence as “the perpetration of physical, emotional, or threat abuse by at least one member of an unmarried dating couple.” Notice that this definition does not include the term sexual abuse. Sexual abuse was excluded as its own separate category and until recently it was defined as a form of dating violence because many couples are sexually active or become sexually active by fore, which in turn becomes sexual assault. CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2002) defines sexual assault specifically as:“An act completed against the victim’s will or when a victim is unable to consent due toage illness, disability, or the influence of alcohol or other drugs. It may involve actual or
threatened physical force, use of guns or other weapons, coercion, intimidation, or pressure.
Sexual Violence also includes intentional touching of the genitals, anus, and groin, or
breast, against a victim will or when the victim is unable to consent, as well as voyeurism,
exposure to exhibitionism or undesired exposure to pornography. The perpetrator of
sexual violence may be a friend, family member, stranger, or intimate partner.”
Sexual assault in this case is defined in very specific terms and includes a variety of examples. This will help to ensure accurate measurement and higher frequency of sexual abuse. Sexual assault does not necessarily have to mean penetration in this definition. In fact, many couples are sexually assaulted simply through touch such as pining their arms down, grabbing sensitive or sexual parts of the body, and undressing without consent. Basically, if one is touched in an unwanted sexual manner, it is determined as sexual assault.
In order to describe sexual assault take for example, the case study of Mary and Her Frat Bash. Mary a freshman at Florida State University had been drinkin
g tequila before attending a frat party. Her boyfriend, Daniel Oltarsh a junior, age 23, and a brother of Pi Kappa Alpha was her date. He gave her wine and left her in his room. Later he returned and forced Mary to have sex with her. Then he brought her to a frat bathroom and put her in a shower room where two other frat boys had raped her. They used a toothpaste tube as a means of penetration. She was then dumped into another hallway where a second frat house initialed their symbols. As news of these assaults broke out Mary begin to blame herself of the victimization. She tried to change her physical appearance so she wouldn't be recognized but, it did not help. She couldn't cope with this stress anymore and she checked into a psychiatric clinic for depression, bulimia, and alcoholism (Barnett, Perrin & Perrin, 2005).
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