15.1. Washington State Definitions

The following definitions are provided under Washington State Law:

Consent ()

At the time of the act of sexual intercourse or sexual contact there are actual words or conduct indicating freely given agreement to have sexual intercourse or sexual contact.

Mental Incapacity ()

A condition existing at the time of the offense which prevents a person from understanding the nature or consequences of the act of sexual intercourse whether that condition is produced by illness, defect, the influence of a substance or from some other cause.

Physically Helpless ()

A person who is unconscious or for any other reason is physically unable to communicate unwillingness to an act.

Forcible Compulsion ()

Is physical force which overcomes resistance, or a threat, express or implied, that places a person in fear of death or physical injury to herself or himself or another person, or in fear that she or he or another person will be kidnapped.

Sexual Intercourse ()
  • Has its ordinary meaning and occurs upon any penetration, however slight, and
  • Also means any penetration of the vagina or anus however slight, by an object, when committed on one person by another, whether such persons are of the same or opposite sex, except when such penetration is accomplished for medically recognized treatment or diagnostic purposes, and
  • Also means any act of sexual contact between persons involving the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another whether such persons are of the same or opposite sex.
Sexual Contact ()

Any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person done for the purpose of gratifying sexual desire of either party or a third party.

Domestic Violence ()

Includes but is not limited to any of the following crimes when committed either by (a) one family or household member against another family or household member, or (b) one intimate partner against another intimate partner:

  • Assault in the first degree (RCW 9A.36.011);
  • Assault in the second degree (RCW 9A.36.021);
  • Assault in the third degree (RCW 9A.36.031);
  • Assault in the fourth degree (RCW 9A.36.041):
  • Drive-by shooting (RCW 9A.36.045);
  • Reckless endangerment (RCW 9A.36.050);
  • Coercion (RCW 9A.36.070);
  • Burglary in the first degree (RCW 9A.52.020);
  • Burglary in the second degree (RCW 9A.52.030);
  • Criminal trespass in the first degree (RCW 9A.52.070);
  • Criminal trespass in the second degree (RCW 9A.52.080);
  • Malicious mischief in the first degree (RCW 9A.48.070);
  • Malicious mischief in the second degree (RCW 9A.48.080);
  • Malicious mischief in the third degree (RCW 9A.40.090);
  • Kidnapping in the first degree (RCW (9A.40.020);
  • Kidnapping in the second degree (RCW 9A.40.030);
  • Unlawful imprisonment (RCW 9A.40.040);
  • Violation of the provisions of a restraining order, no-contact order, or protection order restraining or enjoining the person or restraining the person from going onto the grounds of or entering a residence, workplace, school, or day care, or prohibiting the person from knowingly coming within, or knowingly remaining within, a specified distance of a location, a protected party’s person, or a protected party’s vehicle (chapter 7.105 RCW, or RCW 10.99.040, 10.99.050, 26.09.300, 26.10.220, 26.26B.050, 26.44.063, 26.44.150, or 26.52.070, or any of the former RCW 26.50.060, 26.50.070, 26.50.130, and 74.34.145);
  • Rape in the first degree (RCW 9A.44.040);
  • Rape in the second degree (RCW 9A.44.050);
  • Residential burglary (RCW 9A.52.025);
  • Stalking (RCW 9A.46.110); and
  • Interference with the reporting of domestic violence (RCW 9A.36.150).
Family Or Household Members ()
  • Adult persons related by blood or marriage;
  • Adult persons who are presently residing together or who have resided together in the past; and
  • Persons who have a biological or legal parent-child relationship, including stepparents and stepchildren and grandparents and grandchildren.
IntimatePartner ()
  • Spouses or domestic partners;
  • Former spouses or former domestic partners;
  • Persons who have a child in common regardless of whether they have been married or have lived together at any time;
  • Adult persons presently or previously residing together who have or have had a dating relationship;
  • Persons sixteen years of age or older who are presently residing together or who have resided together in the past and who have or have had a dating relationship; and
  • Persons sixteen years of age or older with whom a person sixteen years of age or older has or has had a dating relationship.
Dating Relationship (, )

A social relationship of a romantic nature. Factors that the court may consider in making this determination include:

    • The length of time the relationship has existed;
    • The nature of the relationship; and
    • The frequency of interaction between the parties.
Rape in the First Degree ()

A person is guilty of rape in the first degree when such person engages in sexual intercourse with another person:

  • By forcible compulsion where the perpetrator or an accessory:
  • Uses or threatens to use a deadly weapon or what appears to be a deadly weapon; or
  • Kidnaps the victim; or
  • Inflicts serious physical injury, including but not limited to physical injury which renders the victim unconscious; or
  • Feloniously enters into the building or vehicle where the victim is situated.
  • After the perpetrator or an accessory knowingly furnishes the victim with a legend drug, controlled substance, or controlled substance analog without the victim’s knowledge and consent which renders the victim incapable of consent to sexual intercourse due to physical helplessness or mental incapacitation.
Rape in the Second Degree ()

A person is guilty of rape in the second degree when, under circumstances not constituting rape in the first degree, the person engages in sexual intercourse with another person:

  • By forcible compulsion;
  • When the victim is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless or mentally incapacitated;
  • When the victim is a person with a developmental disability and the perpetrator is a person who:
    • Has supervisory authority over the victim; or
    • Was providing transportation, within the course of his or her employment, to the victim at the time of the offense;
  • When the perpetrator is a health care provider, the victim is a client or patient, and the sexual intercourse occurs during a treatment session, consultation, interview, or examination. It is an affirmative defense that the defendant must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the client or patient consented to the sexual intercourse with the knowledge that the sexual intercourse was not for the purpose of treatment;
  • When the victim is a resident of a facility for persons with a mental disorder or substance use disorder and the perpetrator is a person who has supervisory authority over the victim; or
  • When the victim is a frail elder or vulnerable adult and the perpetrator is a person who:
    • Has a significant relationship with the victim; or
    • Was providing transportation, within the course of his or her employment, to the victim at the time of the offense.
Rape in the Third Degree ()

A person is guilty of rape in the third degree when, under circumstances not constituting rape in the first or second degrees, such person engages in sexual intercourse with another person:

  • Where the victim did not consent as defined in (7), to sexual intercourse with the perpetrator; or
  • Where there is threat of substantial unlawful harm to property rights of the victim.
Voyeurism ()

A person commits the crime of voyeurism in the first degree if, for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire any person, he or she knowingly views, photographs, or films:

  • Another person without that person’s knowledge and consent while the person being viewed, photographed, or filmed is in a place where he or she would have a reasonable expectation of privacy; or
  • The intimate areas of another person without that person’s knowledge and consent and under circumstances where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, whether in a public or private place.

A person commits the crime of voyeurism in the second degree if he or she intentionally photographs or films another person for the purpose of photographing or filming the intimate areas of that person with the intent to distribute or disseminate the photograph or film, without that person’s knowledge and consent, and under circumstances where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, whether in a public or private place.

Indecent Exposure ()

A person is guilty of indecent exposure if he or she intentionally makes any open and obscene exposure of his or her person or the person of another knowing that such conduct is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm. The act of breastfeeding or expressing breast milk is not indecent exposure.

Harassment ()

A person is guilty of harassment if:

  • Without lawful authority, the person knowingly threatens:
    • To cause bodily injury immediately or in the future to the person threatened or to any other person; or
    • To cause physical damage to the property of a person other than the actor; or
    • To subject the person threatened or any other person to physical confinement or restraint; or
    • Maliciously to do any other act which is intended to substantially harm the person threatened or another with respect to his or her physical health or safety; and
  • The person by words or conduct places the person threatened in reasonable fear that the threat will be carried out. “Words or conduct” includes, in addition to any other form of communication or conduct, the sending of an electronic communication.
Stalking ()
  • A person commits the crime of stalking if, without lawful authority, the person:
    • Intentionally and repeatedly harasses another person;
    • Intentionally and repeatedly follows another person;
    • Intentionally contacts, follows, tracks, or monitors, or attempts to contact, follow, track, or monitor another person after being given actual notice that the person does not want to be contacted, followed, tracked, or monitored; or
    • Knowingly and without consent installs or monitors an electronic tracking device, or causes an electronic tracking device to be installed, placed, or used, to track the location of another person; and
    • The person being harassed, followed, tracked, or monitored suffers substantial emotional distress or is placed in fear that the stalker intends to injure him or her, or another person, or his or her property, or the property of another person, or, in the circumstances identified in (a)(iv) of this subsection, the victim’s knowledge of the tracking device would reasonably elicit substantial emotional distress or fear. The feeling of substantial emotional distress or fear must be one that a reasonable person in the same situation would experience given the totality of the circumstances; and

Except as provided in RCW 9A.46.110, a person who stalks another person is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. A person who stalks another person is guilty of a class B felony if any of the following applies:

  • The stalker has previously been convicted in this state or any other state of any crime of harassment, as defined in ;
  • The stalking violates any protective order protecting the victim;
  • The stalker has previously been convicted of a gross misdemeanor or felony stalking offense under this section for stalking another person;
  • The stalker was armed with a deadly weapon, as defined in, while stalking the victim;
  • The victim is or was a law enforcement officer; judge; juror; attorney; victim advocate; legislator; community corrections’ officer; an employee, contract staff person; or volunteer of a correctional agency; court employee, court clerk; or courthouse facilitator; or an employee of the child protective, child welfare, or adult protective services division within the department of social and health services; and the stalker stalked the victim to retaliate against the victim for an act the victim performed during the course of official duties or to influence the victim’s performance of official duties; or
  • The victim is a current, former, or prospective witness in an adjudicative proceeding, and the stalker stalked the victim to retaliate against the victim as a result of the victim’s testimony or potential testimony.