ABSTRACT
Sexual misconduct, it seems, is an almost obsessive interest in our society. It appears daily in the media, provoking strong public reaction. However, before engaging in discussions about how to understand and prevent sexual exploitation it is important to set out the ways in which the key terms in the debates about it are being used. This is because the language we use exerts power over the way we think and even shapes the way a social problem is defined, explained and addressed. Those with the power to define, to name or prevent naming also have the power to obscure.
