Where to start? OK, first of all, words have meanings and one of the beauties of the English language (as infuriating as it is to non-native speakers) is its capacity for nuance and not having compound words that sound like someone clearing their throat while getting themselves caught in their fly (looking in your direction, German!)
In general use, “Assault” is taken to mean physically harming someone - ie, punching someone in the face, kicking them in the groin, slapping them, shoving them into a wall, that sort of thing. No-one argues those things are assault, and where done non-consensually, cause harm and should be punished.
Similarly, sexual assault is commonly accepted to be physical harm in the form of rape, forced penetration, holding someone down and kissing them when they’re struggling to get away, that sort of unpleasantness.
Technically speaking, merely touching someone in any way they didn’t agree to is assault, but there’s a legal principle known as De Minimis - basically “The law does not concern itself with trifles”, which is why you can’t file assault charges against people who bump into you on the high street or clap a friendly hand on your shoulder and say “Mr Frylock, how are you this afternoon?”
Basically, assault is not, outside certain contexts, taken to mean “hurt feelings”, unless it’s combined with a physical injury as well (such as in rape or a vicious beating which has left the recipient terrified to venture out of their house, for example).
The idea that putting one’s hand flirtatiously on the knee of someone else counts as “assault” is seen by (I would suggest) most people as ridiculous - there is no physical harm caused by such an action, nor should a reasonable person experience any hurt feelings from such an action, beyond a “Ewww, creepy, no thanks” if they’re not into it. It’s certainly not something that should, in and of itself, lead someone to a therapist’s couch or a lawyer’s office, unless it was a situation such as a boss making it clear to his secretary that her employment might be under review unless she took the “personal assistant” aspect of her title a bit more… broadly.
Similarly, the idea that a lifeguard performing CPR on someone on a beach might be “assaulting” them is patently ridiculously because they’re not harming the recipient - quite the opposite. Conflating “trying to save someone’s life” with “beating the stuffing out of them” is absurd in the extreme because one of those things is clearly not like the other.
I’m all in favour of people advocating for minority views - God knows I have enough of them here - but there’s a difference between “having a minority view”
Frankly, I don’t like the idea of world where people with hurt feelings - or people who are told they should have hurt feelings - decide to “Come forward” and level accusations at people who have done fairly minor or even insignificant (or maybe even nothing) things.
Take this current thread: What, exactly, has been achieved by this woman accusing Mr Ansari of an unpleasant act? No-one’s life has been improved by this; the world is not a better place, no-one is getting “Justice” and most guys who aren’t SDMB members or Twitter activists would think that “getting handsy” or “being a bit to keen for a blowjob” might be “Uncool” or “A Dick Move” at worst - so all she has done is made things harder for the victims of actual sexual assault.
Basically, I do not like what you are proposing because it would make the world a worse place for people - regardless of gender or sexual orientation - and contribute to a climate of fear, distrust and unchecked political correctness.
