The criminal offense of sexual assault generally involves forced sexual intercourse, sodomy, or other sexual penetration of another person—against the person’s will and without the person’s consent.

Sexual assault laws vary from state to state, and in some states the traditional criminal offense of rape is defined as the criminal offense of sexual assault. In some states the touching, groping, or pinching of the body of another person without the person’s consent and for purposes of sexual gratification is defined as sexual assault—and in other states such nonconsensual sexual contact is defined as the criminal offense of sexual battery or forcible touching, for example.

Sexual assault and related criminal offenses are generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In Georgia, the criminal offense of sexual assault is addressed under the state's penal code, specifically in the context of sexual battery and aggravated sexual battery. Sexual battery in Georgia is defined as making physical contact with the intimate parts of another person without their consent for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse. Aggravated sexual battery involves intentionally penetrating with a foreign object the sexual organ or anus of another person without their consent. Rape, which is a separate offense, is defined as carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will, or a person who is less than ten years old. Consent is a critical factor in these definitions, and the lack of it is what typically elevates an act to a criminal offense. The laws regarding sexual assault in Georgia are found in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.), and they provide the basis for prosecution and penalties for these crimes.