What is a sexual assault? Non-consensual acts you didn’t realise were illegal or a violation - and your rights around consent explained

New statistics from the Scottish Government show that sexual crimes decreased by 1% from 13,547 in 2018-2019 to 13,364 in 2019-2020.

It marks the first year since 2008-09 in which sexual crimes have not increased in the country.

But while this trend appears positive, sexual crimes in Scotland are still at the second highest level seen since 1971 - the first year comparable groups were available - and according to Police Scotland, many instances of sexual assault continue to go unreported.

Detective Superintendent Fil Capaldi, head of Police Scotland’s National Rape Taskforce, said: "We are acutely aware that rape and sexual offences remain under-reported crimes.

“The reasons for this are complex. It can take victims many years to report what has happened to them and some people may never report.”

Sandy Brindley, Chief Executive of Rape Crisis Scotland says: "When it comes to sexual violence there’s a real gap between public understanding or expectation of what that looks like and the reality, and this causes real problems, especially for survivors.

“This is deeply harmful and it’s really important that we broaden out the conversation so that less discussed forms of sexual violence are brought into the public awareness.”

Here are some examples of sexual acts that you may not have realised constitute an assault or violation - and your legal rights around consent explained.

Stealthing

Stealthing is the act of removing a condom during sex, despite agreeing to wear one.

Under Scottish Law there is no specific reference to “stealthing” or condom removal as a criminal offence, but it is legally recognised as assault in England and Wales under the term “conditional consent”.