Sexual Assault, Female Survivors of

A survivor of a sexual assault is a quasi-legal term signifying a person who has had a past episode of unwanted sexual contact. This person is usually female and the assault usually occurred before the age of 30 years. The legal status may vary tremendously in that the person may be about to testify in a criminal matter or may have never reported the abuse. The abuse could have occurred as a child or as an adult. There is also variability due to the age at which the assault occurred, the nature and extent of the assault, who committed the assault (e.g., a family member or intimate partner) and the extent to which the victim had a quality support network. It is also important to ...