View synonyms for

sexual abuse

[ sek-shoo-uhl uh-byoos ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

nonconsensual touching of a person for one’s own sexual gratification or for the sexual gratification of someone else, especially when the nonconsenting party is a child:
When children experience sexual abuse, it is rarely a stranger perpetrating the crime, but more commonly an authority figure or other adult they know.

sexual abuse

Unwanted sexual activity forced on a person by another through coercion or threats.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of sexual abuse¹

First recorded in 1875–80 in the sense “masturbation”

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

"She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking," a statement from her family reads.

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The nature of the women's work left them open to physical and sexual abuse, the court heard.

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The county announced earlier this month they planned to pay $4 billion to settle nearly 7,000 claims of alleged sexual abuse inside the county’s juvenile facilities and foster homes.

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He said the Pope became "a real father to me" and changed the Church's attitudes to sexual abuse.

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It was in the way he dealt with the horrors of child sexual abuse by those associated with the Catholic Church that made it clear he knew it was something he would be judged by.

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Related Words

sexual sexual assault

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