Sexual assault is when someone, without your consent, touches or penetrates you sexually. Touching, such as rubbing a breast, vagina, penis or buttocks, even if it is through clothing, is called “sexual contact.” Intercourse, oral sex or insertion of an object or body part into the vagina or anus is called “sexual penetration.” Sexual contact or penetration occurs if the offender touches or penetrates your body, or if you have to touch or penetrate the offender’s body.

Sexual assault can include:

• having sex with a person who does not want to have sex with you;
• forcing someone to have sex with you;
• threatening to injure someone to make them have sex with you;
• having sex with a person who is unconscious;
• having sex with a person who is affected by drugs or alcohol and may not be able to legally consent to sex.

STAR Alaska provides free support to survivors of sexual assault: https://www.staralaska.com/.  They also have a free 24-hour hotline that you can call: 907-276-7273. 

Under Alaska law, it is sexual assault to have sex or engage in sexual conduct with someone without their consent or if they are incapacitated.  Being incapacitated means that the person is temporarily not capable of appraising the nature of their conduct or physically unable to express unwillingness to act.  This includes incapacitation due to drugs, medication, or alcohol.

It is also a crime to have sexual contact or penetration with someone who is mentally impaired and not able to understand what they are doing or the consequences of that conduct. 

If someone had sex with you or touched you sexually without your consent, it is not your fault.