The Wire 
TV Show
Crime
Drama
Thriller
TV Show
Crime
Drama
Thriller
Updated: 7 January 2023
No rape or sexual assault
Rape or sexual assault mentioned, discussed, implied
Sexual harassment e.g non-consensual grabbing, touching, cat-calling)
Sexual relationship between adult and teenager
Child sex abuse
Incest
Attempted rape
Rape off-screen or strongly implied
Rape on-screen

Description

S1E3: a woman mentions how she was catcalled by her male colleagues before she told them she was a lesbian. S1E4: a man explains how he killed an unsuspecting woman who was naked (coming out of the shower) from the window of her home at night. Another man asks why he did not raped her first. Shortly after that, rape is mentioned in another context. Throughout the episode, the picture of the naked body of the woman is shown extensively. S1E7: a detainee repeatedly uses homophobic slurs to insult a lesbian officer. S1E8: during a party, a man has sex with a woman who is highly intoxicated (off-screen). She is shown dead and nude afterwards: the man is completely indifferent. Two officers joke about and discuss sexual harassment. S1E9: the rape from the previous episode is discussed. It is implied that three men raped the woman while she was overdosing, and that they dumped her body in a dumpster. Her dead naked body is shown at the morgue. S2E1: one man shows his penis to the crowd in a bar, despite the female bartender asking him not to. Near the end of the episode, one character makes a rape joke. Worthy of note: the final scene of the episode reveals a container full of dead women (presumably prostitutes). Their death is the central plot of season 2. S2E2: rape is mentioned. In the last scene of the episode, one character who has been tortured while naked, explains why the girls from S2E1 were murdered. Their age is not stated but they are referred to as 'girls'. They were prostitutes smuggled by boat, and when one sailor raped and killed one of them, the crew decided to kill them all, after having had sex with them. S2E4: the exhibitionist character from S2E1 takes a picture of his penis and set it as a screen wallpaper to one of his colleagues' computer. Rape is mentioned later on. S2E5: one male character showing enthusiasm to work with a friend/colleague touches him inappropriately (off-screen) as a joke. We hear the latter say: 'Don't grab my dick'. S2E7: a drunk male character is briefly shown acting inappropriately towards a woman in a bar. S2E9: one lead male character (a detective) goes to a brothel undercover and wiretapped to expose a human trafficking network. He ends up in a room with two prostitutes and seems uncomfortable when they start having sexual gestures towards him (undressing him and giving him a handjob), because his colleagues are taking too much time to intervene. When they eventually arrive, the two women are having sex with him: he does not seem disturbed at all. It is later stated that he broke regulations and has to justify his behavior. S3E1: rape is mentioned twice metaphorically. In the final scene of the episode, a woman (presumably a prostitute) is shown giving oral sex to three men in a dark alley at night. S3E2: throughout the episode, two men (40s) discuss which celebrities one of them would like to have sex with. He answers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (who were just 18 when the series first aired), and the other precises that, in their fantasy, they would be his "slaves". S3E4: early on in the episode, rape and date rape are briefly mentioned. S3E5: a group of men harass a woman on the street and one of them eventually slaps her. S3E7: a woman (presumably a prostitute) is shown giving oral sex to a man in a dark alley. The male protagonist (a detective) uses professional resources to stalk a woman. S3E8: a woman flirts with a man and ends up having sex with him. It is then implied that she was paid or instructed to do so to trap him, and later get him killed. S3E9: rape is briefly mentioned early on in the episode. S3E10: a male judge, who was previously shown being attracted to a female recurring character, is increasingly insistent in flirting with her. She does not seems disturbed at all and even plays it to get what she wants. An homophobic man goes several times to a gay bar to bait one customer out and kidnap him. Season 4: throughout the season, one character (a boy) acts oddly towards male adults. It is increasingly suggested that he was sexually abused by his stepfather, who does not appear in the season until episode 9. The abuse is hinted at more clearly in episode 10. S4E2: rape is briefly mentioned by a politician as part of the city's criminal problems. S4E3: a man jokingly gropes another male character's bottom: he does not seem bothered and keeps joking with the other. S4E4: a main character, who frquently hit on women in bars, persists on flirting with a couple of women despite their clear disinterest. S4E5: two boys rape a girl off-screen in a school's bathroom. Another boy is paid to keep watch. We see the two boys accompanying the girl in the bathroom, and later exiting: the girl is always paralyzed, like if she was threatened beforehand. S4E6: the rape from the previous episode is discussed by different characters. The boy who kept watch insists on saying that the girl was consenting. We also briefly see here giving her deposition to a policman, distressed. This incident is briefly mentioned again in S4E7+8+11. In one of the final scenes, a woman starts kissing a man, who firstly accepts it but quickly rebuffs her: she insists and he has to pushes her away several times for her to accept his decision. S4E9: rape is briefly mentioned. S4E10: rape in juvenile custody is mentioned by a young criminal who is afraid to have to spend the night there (he does not). S5E5: during the first half of the episode, discussions are centered around the possibility that a serial killer rapes his male victims (which he is not). This is briefly mentioned again in further episodes. S5E7: the stepfather character from season 4 and his presumably assault of a child is mentioned and hinted at again. One rape and murder is mentioned.

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