When I was younger, I was touched inappropriately by a male friend. I didn’t remember or understand that his behavior was wrong until I was older. Is this considered sexual assault?

We are so grateful that you reached out with this question. We’re sure it took a lot of courage to bring this up and we want to help as best we can. The short answer is that any unwanted sexual behavior to a person of any age can be considered assault, but the specifics vary from situation to situation. The most important thing is that if you feel hurt by what has happened to you, then that’s evidence enough that what happened was wrong and you are entitled to take care of yourself about it. We strongly encourage you to talk to a trusted adult to get advice about how to take care of yourself about this – it could be a parent/guardian, your primary care doctor, a counselor, a coach, a friend’s parent.