GlossaryCrime classifications
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is a broad term for sexual acts prohibited by law because they occur without consent, including when a person cannot consent.
Sexual assault is a broad term for sexual acts prohibited by law because they occur without consent, including when a person cannot consent. It does not name one uniform offense category across every U.S. jurisdiction or statistical system. A record needs its legal or reporting context to show precisely what is included.
Where the term appears
The Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women defines the term by reference to nonconsensual sexual acts prohibited by federal, tribal, or state law, including lack of capacity to consent. This explains the broad concept without making every jurisdiction's offense names identical.
In a dispatch log, “sexual assault” may describe information reported to an answering center. In an investigative record, it may be a category assigned after further review. In a court record, the actual statute and charge identify the legal allegation. Keep those stages clear when summarizing a case.
Example
Hypothetical example: A department's dashboard groups several legally distinct sexual offenses under “sexual assault.” The underlying court document in one case identifies a specific nonconsensual-contact charge.
The dashboard heading describes the publisher's grouping. It does not mean every event in the group involved the same conduct or legal charge. A comparison with another department requires checking which offenses that department includes in its total.
Common confusion
Rape is a more specific category within the broader subject of sexual offenses. A sexual-assault total should not be relabeled a rape total without an explicit source definition.
A report also differs from a conviction. A person reporting an assault does not need to have a completed court case for the report to exist, and absence of a conviction does not by itself explain what happened.
Reading the source
Look for whether the numbers represent reports, offenses, people, or cases and whether attempted offenses are included. For legal interpretation, use the governing statute. For comparisons, use the publisher's offense grouping and reporting period, especially when definitions or category names change.