Sexual Assault

This study examined the co-occurrence of childhood sexual abuse, adult sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and sexual harassment in a predominantly African American sample of 268 female veterans, randomly sampled from an urban Veterans Affairs hospital women's clinic. A combination of hierarchical and iterative cluster analysis was used to identify 4 patterns of women's lifetime experiences of violence co-occurrence. The 1st cluster experienced relatively low levels of all 4 forms of violence; the 2nd group, high levels of all 4 forms; the 3rd, sexual revictimization across the lifespan with adult sexual harassment; and the 4th, high intimate partner violence with sexual harassment. This cluster solution was validated in a theoretically driven model that examined the role of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a mediator of physical health symptomatology. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that PTSD fully mediated the relationship between violence and physical health symptomatology. Consistent with a bio-psycho-immunologic theoretical model, PTSD levels more strongly predicted pain-related physical health symptoms compared to nonpain health problems. Implications for clinical interventions to prevent PTSD and to screen women for histories of violence in health care settings are discussed.

Research with both the general public and members of the criminal justice system reports a pervasive rape myth of a violent offender and a physically resistant victim. Despite research being conducted on victims' postrape behavior, few studies have examined victim behavior during sexual assaults, and many of those which have been conducted have tended to focus on physical resistance. This article reports two studies that examined qualitatively the behavior of female rape victims during sexual assaults. The first study is an analysis of 78 stranger sexual assaults, committed in the United Kingdom, by male offenders. The second study is an analysis of 89 allegations of stranger rape, again from the United Kingdom, perpetrated by multiple male suspects. Information about victim behavior was extracted from victims' accounts made to the police. More than 100 different victim behaviors were identified in each study, and more than 80 behaviors were common across studies. Myth-congruent behaviors were present in the sample; however, the behaviors engaged in by victims were complex and diverse. Indirect and face-saving communications were used by victims and are discussed in terms of expectations regarding victim behavior and rape stereotypes. The implications of the findings for training legal professionals, educating jurors, and counseling victims are discussed.

During the Holocaust and the subsequent process of what has become known as liberation, women constantly confronted convergent oppressive forces. Under the Nazi regime and its cohorts as well as during the liberation process, Jews faced torture and genocide. Jewish women constantly lived with an additional layer of oppression: threatened or actual sexual violence. Positioned at the vortex of intersecting oppressions, how can the identities of these women transcend their stature as victims? How do women creatively reposition themselves vis-à-vis the perpetrators and the traumatic events so they can maintain or reclaim their agency and dignity?
Centering on narrative analysis of first-person testimony gleaned from memoirs and from the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive (VHA), this investigation covers four narratively sustained modes of comportment toward sexual violence. First, mutual aid demonstrates an ethic of care. Second,  degrading or minimizing the perpetrator or the sexual act retains the narrator’s dignity. The final two angles offer complementary ways to avoid or repel assault: distracting an assailant by directing him toward more attractive targets, and rendering oneself repellant.
Departing from the prevailing approach of treating Holocaust survivor testimonies primarily as responses to trauma, this project reveals how the narrators actively craft their identities through the storytelling process. This creative molding of identity through narrative, a process called autopoeisis, recasts survivors of these and other traumas as dynamically (re)negotiating their understanding of self and their relationship to lived experiences. Trauma stories thereby further tikkun olam—repair of a fractured world.

Sexual assault is a crime of violence, often motivated by aggression and rage, with the assailant using sexual contact as a weapon for power and control. Sexual assault can include a range of coercive behaviors ranging from kissing, fondling, and molestation, to rape or attempted rape. For the purposes of this review, sexual assault is defined as "an event that occurred without the victim's consent, involved the use of force, or the threat of the use of force, and involved actual or attempted penetration of the victim's vagina, mouth, or rectum."l8 According to recent statistics, one out of eight women will be raped during her lifetime, and 39% will be sexually assaulted more than once.I8 Many rapes are unreported, either because of feelings of shame and guilt, or because the victim does not define the event as rape (e.g., spousal and date rape). Well-known sequelae of rape, whether reported or not, include isolation, depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms, suicide attempts, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The experience of rape has a strong effect on the subsequent health of victim/survivors and has thus become a major public health issue. Sexual assault victims often present to the emergency department (ED) for initial evaluation, evidence collection, treatment, and crisis intervention. Although some cities have model sexual assault centers or use specially trained sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE), the emergency physician (EP) is responsible for the initial evaluation and management in most EDs. It is, therefore, imperative that the El' be familiar with complex array of reactions (emotional and physical), common injuries, and elements of proper evaluation and treatment of sexual assault victims.

People abused by angry discipline as children, may tend to abuse or overly punish other people or themselves for perceived wrongs in their adult life. In some individuals, aggressive personality traits may be genetically inherited. The aggressive personality may feel weakened by having guidelines or boundaries for anger. Anger is a normal human emotion, and these guidelines can help express anger in a healthy way.

Sexual assault survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were assessed for frequency of nightmares, measured retrospectively on the Nightmare Frequency Questionnaire (NFQ) and prospectively on nightmare dream logs (NLOG). Retrospective frequency was extremely high, averaging occurrences every other night and an estimated number of nightmares greater than ®ve per week. Test±retest reliability data on the NFQ yielded weighted kappa coef®cients of .85 (95% CI, .74±.95) for nights and .90 (95% CI, .83±.97) for nightmares. Correlations between retrospective and prospective nightmare frequencies ranged between .53 (P :001) for nights and .63 (P :001) for nightmares. Correlations between frequency and distress measures (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress) yielded coef®cients ranging from (r :28±.53). Compared with intrusive, cumbersome and time-consuming prospective measurements, the NFQ appears reliable, convenient, and equally useful in assessing nightmare frequency in a group of sexual assault survivors. Nightmare frequency, prevalence, distress and impairment are discussed. #

Women with mental disabilities confront sexual assault at an alarming rate. We have argued elsewhere that this reality should be reflected in our understanding of the concepts of consent and capacity in the criminal law of sexual assault (Benedet and Grant 2007a; Benedet and Grant 2007b). In this paper, we examine recent developments in Canadian sexual assault law and consider whether they are adequate to recognize the experience of sexual assault for women with mental disabilities. In using the term mental disability, we refer to any developmental disability, psychiatric condition or other chronic, non-episodic disability that affects cognition or decision- making. Of course, the range of conditions that might fall within this category is vast and its boundaries not clearly fixed. Disability is both bio-medically and socially constructed in ways that shift with time and place. We are focusing on cases where the complainant is an adult woman with impairments in cognition, memory, an...

Objective: Research has shown associations between college women's alcohol and/or drug consumption and the risk of sexual assault, but few studies have measured the various means by which sexual assault is achieved. Participants: The authors' Campus Sexual Assault Study obtained self-report data from a random sample of undergraduate women (N = 5,446). Methods: The authors collected data on sexual assault victimization by using a cross-sectional, Web-based survey, and they conducted analyses assessing the role of substance use. The authors also compared victimizations before and during college, and across years of study. Results: Findings indicate that almost 20% of undergraduate women experienced some type of completed sexual assault since entering college. Most sexual assaults occurred after women voluntarily consumed alcohol, whereas few occurred after women had been given a drug without their knowledge or consent. Conclusions: The authors discuss implications for campus sexual assault prevention programs, including the need for integrated substance use and sexual victimization prevention programming.

O ne of the challenges frequently discussed by sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) is the ability to retain experienced forensic nurses in their programs. Anecdotal information from nurse examiners indicates that some of the reasons for leaving SANE programs include high volume of on-call time in addition to primary nursing employment, pay that is not reflective of responsibility, and "burn out" associated with the demands of working with adults and children affected by violence.

Objective: Research has shown associations between college women's alcohol and/or drug consumption and the risk of sexual assault, but few studies have measured the various means by which sexual assault is achieved. Participants: The authors' Campus Sexual Assault Study obtained self-report data from a random sample of undergraduate women (N = 5,446). Methods: The authors collected data on sexual assault victimization by using a cross-sectional, Web-based survey, and they conducted analyses assessing the role of substance use. The authors also compared victimizations before and during college, and across years of study. Results: Findings indicate that almost 20% of undergraduate women experienced some type of completed sexual assault since entering college. Most sexual assaults occurred after women voluntarily consumed alcohol, whereas few occurred after women had been given a drug without their knowledge or consent. Conclusions: The authors discuss implications for campus sexual assault prevention programs, including the need for integrated substance use and sexual victimization prevention programming.

The media, both print journalism and television, is a powerful force in today's society. This industry is being bought by huge conglomerates that sell a multitude of products. This has changed the way this industry is doing its job. During the 1960's the news programs ...

Most women who have been sexually assaulted see at least some situations in the world as being more dangerous following their assault experiences. Based on in-depth interviews with 94 women who were either raped or avoided being raped during an attack, this study examines the effect of the events that occurred during the attack and the circumstances surrounding the attack as factors that determine later perceptions of danger. Women who have been raped are more likely to change their perceptions of the safety of the world in radical ways than women who have avoided being raped, olthough women who avoid being raped often make substantial reassessments as well. For both raped women and avoiders, one's likelihood of making a radical change in one's perceptions of dangerousness depended to a large degree on the sort of situation in which the attack took place. Women were less likely to change their perceptions of dangerousness i f the attack took place in a situation where they believed they were in some danger before the attack. If the attack took place in circumstances which the women defined as safe, however, a much more extreme reaction was likely to occur.

Informed by decolonial feminism, this article explores a transformative justice approach to relationship violence and campus sexual assault in the aftermath of the Larry Nassar case at Michigan State University. The article considers how the emphasis on liability and Title IX compliance as the only response available for dealing with gender-based violence within university settings can function to silence survivors, particularly survivors of color and queer, gender nonbinary, and trans survivors, while also denying them precious access to resources for healing. In so doing, the author raises key questions that help illustrate the difference between current approaches that mimic a criminal justice system response, that fails to support a broad range of survivors, and a transformative justice approach that is attentive to the intergenerational impact of settler-colonial histories, ongoing state-sanctioned violence, and the coloniality and racialization of gender.

Background: Prospective studies of trauma survivors can provide information about the relationship between rape characteristics and the development of subsequent symptoms. Methods: The present study examined the relationship of prior assault, rape severity, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms following rape, and subsequent PTSD diagnosis, to the acute cortisol and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) response to this traumatic event in 20 women. Results: Women with a history of prior physical or sexual assault showed a significantly attenuated cortisol response to the acute stress of rape compared to women without such a history. MHPG appeared to be associated with injury-related rape characteristics, and symptoms of active avoidance, but not prior history. PTSD status at the 3-month follow-up was predicted by both a prior history of assault and high injury rape, but was not directly predicted by either cortisol or MHPG levels. MHPG and cortisol were not correlated in the sample as a whole, but were correlated among individuals who did not subsequently develop PTSD (p ϭ .04).

Posttraumatic symptomatology (PTS) and self-dysfunction (SD) were examined as correlates and predictors of sexual revictimization in a prospective study of 339 college women. Both PTS and SD were associated with a history of child and adult sexual victimization. Compared to a history of child victimization, a history of adult victimization was associated with greater self-dysfunction. Both PTS and SD predicted revictimization during the study; however, self-dysfunction also predicted victimization in the absence of prior victimization. In a multivariate model, PTS did not directly predict victimization during the study, although SD mediated the relationship between PTS and victimization. Sexual victimization (child or adult) prior to the study predicted PTS, which predicted SD, which predicted victimization during the study. Findings suggest that prior child and adult victimization are directly related to later sexual victimization, and are indirectly related to later sexual victimization via the impact of PTS on SD.

This study was conducted to investigate the long-term physical health implications of sexual assault in the rape victim. Fifty-one sexual assault victims, each with 2 or more years of time elapsed since the rape, responded to a selfadministered questionnaire composed of demographics items and the Cornell Medical Index-Health Questionnaire (CMI). The victims were matched by age with a control group of 51 nonvictims. The results showed nonsignificant t-test differences between the two groups in demographic factors and in two CM1 scores, Past Illness Symptoms and Family Health History. However, significant differences resulted between the groups in perceived current health status (x 2 [df = 2, N = 102] = 11.26, p < 0.

Publisher: Maclean's
Author: Judith Timson
Date: Sep. 26, 2005
http://www.canadiancrc.com/newspaper_articles/Macleans_Girls_gone_raunch_26SEP05.aspx

porn, pornography, porn culture, misogyny, raunch culture, sexual assault, rape, rape culture, sexualization, sex, sexuality

College sexual violence is an issue that has recently received a growing amount of
attention. Despite this attention, researchers have yet to take a comprehensive approach
that utilizes student, institutional and community level factors to better understand the
variance of sexual victimization rates across colleges and universities. This study first sets
the foundation for this type of research by identifying a theoretical framework that can
guide studies of this nature. The study then works through a number of related empirical
studies that help give credence to the necessity of this research. An initial regression
analysis is included to set the stage for future studies. The study concludes with the policy
implications and how this research will impact the work of administrators and
policymakers that are seeking to reduce campus sexual victimization rates.

People with an intellectual disability are almost three times more likely than those without a disability to be victims of physical assault, sexual assault and robbery. The study reported here found that intellectually disabled people who had become victims of crime scored significantly below the intellectually disabled nonvictims on measures of interpersonal competence. The study found that having a disability was not the main problem, but rather how people behaved and how that behaviour might promote a reaction from an offender. The one characteristic that stood out was the demonstration of anger.

Addiction to lust is common in many men today. This lust is often rooted in our yearning for emotional intimacy– yet finding ourselves unprepared, unequipped and fearful of that intimacy. Shame pathology results from our wanting relationships and genuine equality and mutuality with women, yet finding ourselves crippled by centuries of male sexism and by our emotional dependencies on the opposite sex. ‘Shame wounding’ continues to fuel this pathology by promoting both compulsivity and a fierce sense of self-loathing. This paper explores ‘shame’ as a concept; and considers some major causes of shame-based addiction. Some sound therapeutic approaches for treatment are also investigated.

There is a stark contrast between heightened perceptions of risk associated with drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) and a lack of evidence that this is a widespread threat. Through surveys and interviews with university students in the United Kingdom and United States, we explore knowledge and beliefs about drink-spiking and the linked threat of sexual assault. University students in both locations are not only widely sensitized to the issue, but substantial segments claim fi rst-or secondhand experience of particular incidents. We explore students ' understanding of the DFSA threat in relationship to their attitudes concerning alcohol, binge-drinking, and responsibility for personal safety. We suggest that the drink-spiking narrative has a functional appeal in relation to the contemporary experience of young women's public drinking.

Current problems facing the primary prevention of sexual assault are reviewed. Effective sexual assault prevention programs for both males and females have been slow to develop due to the fact that the etiologies of sexual assault have not been identified. Although dissemination of prevention programs has become increasingly popular in recent years, few programs have evaluated the extent to which the constructs identified in the interventions are effective at decreasing rates of sexual assault. This article discusses previous studies in sexual assault prevention programs, methodological and conceptual problems that currently exist in the field, pragmatic difficulties regarding program implementation and evaluation, and recommendations for future research with an emphasis on interventions with female participants.

We analyzed forensic DNA samples from four cases of sexual assault, using the Y-chromosome-specific human DNA markers and a panel of autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs). The presence of male contribution was evaluated by the analysis of the Amelogenin locus. A panel of tetrameric Y-STR (DYS19, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS385, DYS389I and II) was used in further analysis of samples, increasing the efficiency of the forensic genetic analyses. It was possible to identify a partial or full Y-profile of the rapists in different DNA mixtures when genetic profile could not be detected by autosomal STRs. However, in the case of male/male DNA mixture, only the victim&#39;s Y-profile could be obtained because the DNA of the offenders was present in low amounts. When the mixture contained different male/male proportion of DNA, only the full profile of the major component could be detected. In cases where male/female DNA mixed stains contained a sufficient amount of male DNA, the analysis of a...

Objective: This study investigated the effect of child witness demeanor (defined as crying) on mock jurors' decisions in a simulated First-Degree rape trial. Method: One hundred and thirty-three undergraduates serving in the role of mock jurors read a trial summary in which the primary independent variable was the demeanor of the alleged child victim (i.e., calm, teary, hysterical crying). In addition to reading the summary, participants viewed pencil drawings of the witnesses that were presented as "courtroom drawings." Results: The results showed that the teary condition led to more guilty verdicts and a greater belief in the alleged victim than the other demeanor conditions. Conclusions:Findings from this study indicate that demeanor can impact the perception of a child who is an alleged sexual assault victim in court. However, it is not simply the case that any display of demeanor will lead to a positive outcome for the alleged victim. Instead, it appears that too little or too much emotion from the alleged child victim negatively affected credibility in the eyes of the mock jurors.

This study explored the predictors and consequences of sexual assault occurring after the age of 16 years in a nonclinical sample of women. Child sexual abuse occurring before the age of 16 years was the only predictor of later sexual assault among comorbid risk factors. Peer sexual abuse, number of perpetrators, age at time of sexual abuse, and severity of sexual abuse did not increase the risk for later sexual assault. Adult sexual assault victims showed lower levels of mental health functioning than did survivors of child or peer sexual abuse. We discuss a specificity model of revictimization and the differential effects of child, peer, and adult sexual trauma on the developmental trajectory of sexual violence and psychosocial functioning.

A sample of predominantly low-income, African American female veterans and reservists seeking health care in a Veterans' Administration medical clinic was screened for a history of sexual assault since age 18. Overall, 39% had been sexually assaulted in adulthood. Those who had been sexually victimized were asked to describe one assault incident in detail: 38% described an assault that occurred during military service and 62% described one that occurred before or after military service. This study also examined victims' postassault help-seeking experiences and the degree to which they encountered "secondary victimization" (i.e., victim-blaming behaviors and practices engaged in by legal and medical personnel, which exacerbates victims' trauma). Most victims who sought help from the legal or medical systems (military or civilian) reported that this contact made them feel guilty, depressed, anxious, distrustful of others, and reluctant to seek further help. Secondary victimization was significantly positively correlated with posttraumatic stress symptomatology.

As female faculty teaching classes on sensitive topics (e.g., Family Violence, Women and Crime, Victimology), we have received numerous disclosures of sexual assault and intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization from our students both in and outside the classroom. These experiences have caused each of us to reflect on our teaching practices within the classroom. When college professors receive disclosures from their students they have to develop strategies on how to effectively handle the disclosure, how to manage the classroom environment and assignments knowing that a survivor is in the course, and how to effectively handle their own emotional impact that may result from the disclosure. This paper explores the strategies that faculty report using when responding to disclosures by students and how receiving student disclosures can be used to inform teaching practices.

During the past 20 years, researchers have documented the widespread problem of rape in American society. Approximately one in four women are raped in their adult lifetime, which causes severe psychological distress and long-term physical health problems. The impact of sexual assault extends far beyond rape survivors as their family, friends, and significant others are also negatively affected. Moreover, those who help rape victims, such as rape victim advocates, therapists, as well as sexual assault researchers, can experience vicarious trauma. Future research and advocacy should focus on improving the community response to rape and the prevention of sexual assault.

Objective: To investigate links between child sexual abuse (occurring before 13 years), later mental health, family organization, parenting behaviors, and adjustment in offspring. Method: The present study investigates a subsample of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children an ongoing study of women and their families in the area of Avon, England. A sample of 8292 families met inclusion criteria for identifiable family type and completed self-report data on prior sexual assault. Further data were collected on life course variables, socioeconomic variables, psychological well-being, relationship quality, parent-child relationship quality, and children's adjustment. Results: After adjustment for other childhood adversity, prior child sexual abuse was associated with a range of outcomes in adulthood, including current membership of a nontraditional family type (single mother and stepfather) poorer psychological well-being, teenage pregnancy, parenting behaviors, and adjustment problems in the victim's later offspring. The relationship of child sexual abuse with aspects of the parent-child relationship in later life and with the offspring's adjustment difficulties were mediated in part by mother's mental health-chiefly anxiety. Conclusion: Findings indicate that child sexual abuse has long-term repercussions for adult mental health, parenting relationships, and child adjustment in the succeeding generation.

SNEHA, a non-profit organisation, implements a program on prevention of gender
based violence in informal urban settlements of Mumbai. This article highlights the strategies
adopted to carry out prevention work on gender-based violence in a complex urban setting. It
puts forth a rationale for a comprehensive service delivery and a pragmatic approach to community
mobilization for prevention of gender-based violence. It delves on ethical concerns of
executing programs on gender based violence and adds to the discourse of developing measures
and indicators of success of the program. The impact of the prevention strategies is realised
through the extent and number of cases of gender based violence being referred from the community.
It aims to share lessons learned that could be contextualised in other settings where
non- profit or governmental organisations propose to implement programs on prevention of
gender based violence. The review concludes that convergence approach is crucial for communities,
non-government organisations and public systems to synergise together to prevent
gender based violence.

The college party environment comprises a risk factor for unwanted sexual activity but may also provide a safety net, given the presence of bystanders who can potentially intervene in risky situations. Sexual assault prevention programs are increasingly incorporating bystander education into their designs. This article presents findings intended to inform these programs. Qualitative data from single-sex focus groups about typical college party behavior was analyzed for common themes. Analysis of these themes suggests that although some sexual behavior is visible at college parties, most sexual behavior is assumed to occur behind closed doors. In addition, intervention and prevention methods may vary by gender. Multiple factors appear to promote or dissuade bystander intervention in college party situations.

Previous studies indicate that Native American women experience the highest rate of violence of any ethnic or racial group in the United States. This article addresses the prevalence of intimate partner violence and sexual assault among Native Americans. We present significant substantive and methodological issues that inform research on violence in the lives of Native Americans, as well as existing interventions. Interventions discussed in this article fall within three major categories including those that are community based, those grounded in the public health and health care systems, and those grounded in federal and national organizations. We provide some examples of interventions from each of these three levels of direct service, including a brief discussion of barriers to service accessibility. We conclude with substantive and methodological recommendations for research and practice.

This study was conducted to investigate the long-term physical health implications of sexual assault in the rape victim. Fifty-one sexual assault victims, each with 2 or more years of time elapsed since the rape, responded to a selfadministered questionnaire composed of demographics items and the Cornell Medical Index-Health Questionnaire (CMI). The victims were matched by age with a control group of 51 nonvictims. The results showed nonsignificant t-test differences between the two groups in demographic factors and in two CM1 scores, Past Illness Symptoms and Family Health History. However, significant differences resulted between the groups in perceived current health status (x 2 [df = 2, N = 102] = 11.26, p < 0.