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Understanding sexual assault disclosure
Published in Rachel E. Lovell, Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Sexual Assault Kits and Reforming the Response to Rape, 2023
Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Bridget Jules, Emma C. Lathan, C. Austin Coates, Rachel Crisler
Some victims are surprised and dismayed that their bodies had physiological reactions to the rape (e.g., registering some level of physical response, up to and perhaps including orgasm). These wide-ranging and disparate physical responses are trauma-normative but can be upsetting to disclosure recipients. Furthermore, there may have been consensual parts of the early experience between the victim and the perpetrator (e.g., agreed to share a ride or a kiss). Or, the victim and perpetrator may have shared engagement in a risky or illegal activity prior to the rape. Disclosure of the entirety of the rape experience is substantially less likely when the victim's actions, reactions, and recollections fail to conform to their own or others' rape expectations or the stereotypical rape script. Finally, according to the stereotypical assault script, rape is expected to include overt signs of physical trauma (e.g., bruising) and result in victim distress (e.g., crying, shaking, fear). Victims whose trauma reactions include numbness or other unexpected emotions may be less likely to acknowledge their experience as rape and subsequently be less likely to disclose and report (Cleere & Lynn, 2013). Unexpected, while normative, trauma responses reduce the likelihood of disclosure and increase the likelihood of negative or non-supportive reactions to disclosure from others.
Violence and Sexual Health: A Culture of Silence?
Published in Naomi M. Hall, Sexual Health and Black College Students, 2022
As seen in the Krebs et al., study, most women experiencing CSA know the perpetrator as they were either a classmate, a romantic or sexual partner, or acquaintance. This, in the eyes of some survivors, brings about discussion regarding the legitimacy of the assault. Can you be raped by someone you regularly have sexual intercourse with? What if there are no visible injuries or it did not involve weapons? Palmer and St. Vil (2018) mention that survivors are more likely to report if they believe it is a ‘real’ rape, which means it is perpetrated by a stranger who uses a weapon and results in visible injuries. However, those factors are not common on college campuses. In fact, it is usually the opposite. More attention needs to be given to an unspoken culture of silence in some spaces. This silence can be around the actual assault and/or steeped in the stereotypes that Black women are hypersexual or ‘rachet,' and that they should not tell ‘outside' people their business and remain strong (i.e., Strong Black Woman). However, four out of five women (89.5%) strongly agreed or agreed that they would not report because they did not want to get the person in trouble. There is also a culture of silence based on who is the accused perpetrator (Tillman et al., 2010). There is a high likelihood, based on statistics, that the perpetrator was known to the survivor. Therefore, the decision to ‘not get them in trouble’ is made based on known characteristics, and perhaps contextual issues that require more exploration.
Beneath the covers
Published in Lester D. Friedman, Therese Jones, Routledge Handbook of Health and Media, 2022
In turning to our next and final film, The Nightingale, which details the devastating effects of colonization and acts of sexual violence, this particular historically situated rape narrative is essential for illustrating that such acts are neither sexually motivated nor a symptom of a sexual illness despite public perceptions to the contrary. By understanding that even though rape is, by definition, an act of “sex,” the person committing the act is not expressing himself as a sexual being; instead, he is exerting power and control over others, traumatizing victims, who are likely to become physically and/or emotionally ill (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder).
Patient satisfaction with Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner services and post-assault resource utilization at a university health center and emergency department
Published in Journal of American College Health, 2023
Lindsay M. Cannon, Michelle L. Munro-Kramer, Lisa Scheiman, Joanne M. Bailey, Diana Parrish, Susan D. Ernst
Sexual assault on college and university campuses is a pervasive problem in the United States. It is estimated that 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men will experience a sexual assault while in college.1,2 Sexual assault is defined as any experience of unwanted sexual contact, including those that occur as the result of physical force, threat of physical force, or while the victim is incapacitated.1 Sexual assault includes a range of unwanted sexual contact, including rape, which is defined as vaginal, anal, or oral penetration that occurs without the victim’s consent using physical force or threat of force.1,3 Prevalence estimates for completed rape among college students range from 0.5% to 14.2%.2,4–9
Event-specific and individual factors impacting college students’ decisions to intervene in a potentially risky scenario
Published in Journal of American College Health, 2022
Chrystina Y. Hoffman, Leah E. Daigle
Previous research on violent victimization indicates that third parties are significantly more likely to intervene during instances of violence when the perpetrator is male and the victim is female.18,19 Although there is limited knowledge regarding sexual victimization and bystander involvement specifically, previous studies have demonstrated that the sex of the victim influences the level of blame attribution they receive for their victimization experience. Compared to male rape victims, female victims are perceived as less culpable.20 It is not uncommon for individuals to assume that males are incapable of being raped.20,21 Indeed, college students are significantly more likely to perceive scenarios as rape when the victim is female, compared to when the victim is male.20
College student perceptions of institutional responses to sexual assault reporting and general help-seeking intentions
Published in Journal of American College Health, 2021
Dawnsha R. Mushonga, Lisa Fedina, Melissa L. Bessaha
National and global movements, such as “# MeToo” and “Time’s Up,”1 call attention to the prevalence of sexual assault, the most common form of violent crime on college campuses.2 Sexual assault is characterized as unwanted sexual contact, incapacitated rape, and forcible rape.2,3 College students are a high-risk population from exposure to campus sexual assault (CSA), with as much as 22% of students experiencing at least one sexual assault while attending college.4 Although prevalence rates for CSA among college students range between 13 and 58%;5–7 disproportionately increased rates have been documented among certain student sub-populations, including females, racial/ethnic minorities, sexual minorities (gay/bisexual/lesbian), transgender or gender nonconforming individuals, U.S.-born students, freshman (compared with other student ranks), and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds.3–5