sexual assault vs sexual abuse

sexual assault and sexual abuse both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
sexual assault	Yes	No	No	No
sexual abuse	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, sexual assault and sexual abuse are synonyms defined as:

sexual assault and sexual abuse: a statutory offense that provides that it is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat

Other synonyms of sexual assault include sex crime, sex offense.

sexual assault (noun)	sexual abuse (noun)
a statutory offense that provides that it is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat	a statutory offense that provides that it is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat