Module 11
How Accurate Language About Sexual Assault Supports Victims in the Criminal Justice System

Misusing Eroticized Language to Describe a Sexual Assault

Using eroticized language to describe a sexual assault creates an intimate and non-threatening scene. A study of Canadian judges’ opinions found that they frequently characterized sexual assaults as erotic, romantic, or affectionate acts.1 Here are some examples:

  • “He fondled her breasts”
  • “He kissed, hugged, caressed or had sex with her”
  • “They had intercourse”
  • “She performed oral sex”

Here are examples from a U.S. judicial opinion in a prison sexual assault case:

  • “…instances during which [the guard] fondled [the inmate’s] genitalia.
  • “…no amount of gratuitous or sexually-motivated fondling of an inmates’ genitals…”2

“Fondle” is not a threatening word.  It is appropriately used in sentences like “He fondled his grandchild’s head.”  The appropriate words for these prison cases are “groped,” “grabbed” and “squeezed.”

Disclaimers and Footnotes

1. Jean Bavelas & Linda Coates, Is it Sex or Assault? Erotic versus Violent Language in Sexual Assault Trial Judgments, 10 J. Social Distress & the Homeless 29 (2001).

2. Crawford v. Cuomo, 796 F.3d 252 (2d Cir. 2015).

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