Sexual misconduct

Sexual misconduct is in general any sexual activity between a person in a position of authority and one of his or her subordinates. This commonly includes teachers and their students, doctors and their patients, and employers and their employees. While such activity is usually not explicitly illegal, it is often against professional codes of ethics. For example, a teacher may be fired and a doctor may have his medical license revoked due to sexual misconduct. In addition, the person in the subordinate position may allege sexual harassment.

In a more general sense, sexual misconduct may also be any sexual activity that is harming living creatures. The term is particularly used in this sense within Buddhism (see Buddhist view of marriage). See also sexual morality.