Psychological Trauma Terms

verb inflicting severe pain or suffering on someone deliberately

• The suspect was charged with torturing animals, a serious crime under the law.
• I heard that he was torturing his little brother by tickling him non-stop.
• Stop torturing me with your bad jokes!
• The constant noise from the construction site was torturing my ears.

noun a portmanteau of 'sex' and 'extortion', referring to the act of coercing someone into providing sexual images or favors through the threat of revealing compromising information

• The perpetrator was charged with sextortion after threatening to release explicit photos of the victim.
• I can't believe someone tried to sextort my friend, that's so messed up.
• Watch out for those online creeps trying to pull off a sextortion scam.
• The hackers held the company's data for ransom, engaging in a form of digital sextortion.

verb to take someone away illegally by force or deception

• The police were able to abduct the suspect without any harm.
• I heard that they tried to abduct the cat from the neighbor's yard.
• I can't believe they were planning to abduct him for ransom!
• The dark clouds seemed to abduct the sunlight, casting a gloomy shadow over the town.

noun rape committed by someone who is not a stranger to the victim

• Acquaintance rape is a serious crime that involves sexual assault by someone known to the victim.
• I heard about a case of acquaintance rape where the victim knew the perpetrator from work.
• Acquaintance rape is never okay, no matter how well you think you know the person.
• The betrayal felt after acquaintance rape is like a dagger in the heart of trust.