Sexual abuse | Mencap | Easy Read

Sexual abuse

A woman holding her arm up as if she is going to hit the woman she is holding on to.

What is abuse?

Abuse is is when someone bullies you and does or says something to you that makes you feel hurt, upset or scared.

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Anyone can abuse you. It can be:

a man
a woman
a family member
someone you know
someone you have just met.

A list in number order 1 - 3

What is sexual abuse?

Sexual abuse is 1 type of abuse.

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You can read about different types of abuse at https://www.mencap.org.uk/easyread/lets-talk-about-safeguarding-what-abuse

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Sexual abuse is when someone makes you do sexual things when you don’t want to or don’t understand.

A man holding a magazine open with pictures of naked bodies in it. He is showing the magazine to someone who has their hands up as if to say stop.

Sexual abuse can be:

making you undress
touching your private parts
showing their private parts
making you touch them
taking photos of you when you are not wearing any clothes
showing you photos, pictures or videos of naked people or people having sex
making you have sex when you don’t want to. This is called rape.
making you watch or listen to other people having sex. This could be in person or online.

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What is Sex?

Sex is when people kiss, cuddle and touch each other’s bodies and private parts.

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Sex should take place between adults who agree to have sex with each other.

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Sex is a normal part of life.

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You usually have sex with people you are attracted to.

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What is consent?

Consent means that everyone taking part in something agrees to it and is happy about it.

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To consent for sex, everyone taking part has to:

be 16 years old or over
understand what sex is
want to take part in sex.

A man and a woman lying in bed looking at each other and smiling. They each have a thought bubble above their head with a green tick in it.

Everyone needs to consent every time sex takes place, even if it is online.

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If you have been sexually abused, it is important to remember it was not your fault.

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The next part of our sexual abuse guide is about grooming.

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Or you can go back to the introduction to choose to go to a different part of the sexual abuse guide.