The touchstone of coercion is that a woman lacks choice and faces severe physical or social consequences if she resists sexual advances. Still others involve collusion by organized crime or the military, such as trafficking in women and children, and rape in war.
Sexual coercion can take place at any point in a woman's life.
Children as young as several months old have been raped or otherwise sexually molested. Much sexual coercion takes place against children or adolescents in both industrial and developing countries. During childhood young girls can become easy targets for older male relatives or friends who obtain sex through force or deception. Later, boyfriends, teachers, relatives, or other men in authority may force young women into unwanted sexual encounters. As this poster from Nigeria illustrates, violence against women takes many forms.