What Causes Sexual Violence?

We recognize that there are multiple causes of sexual violence - some related to individual pathology of offenders, most related to a culture that in some ways supports, condones or ignores sexually violent messages and/or behavior. Some call this a "rape culture" and point to exploitive images of women and children in the media, the status of women and children in our culture, and the assumption of sexual availability of women, as examples of a "rape culture." While it is impossible to agree on a single source for the cause of sexual violence, we can agree that this is a multidimensional issue that requires response on several fronts.

Sometimes the terms sexual abuse and sexual assault are used interchangeably with sexual violence. Generally, sexual abuse refers to the repeated sexual violation of a child by a family member or other. Sexual assault is the term most commonly used in Minnesota in reference to those instances that are called "rape." Sexual assault or abuse (criminal sexual conduct) is defined by Minnesota law.