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Sexual Assault and Trauma
Sexual assault can happen at any time to any person from the very young to the very old. The National Center for Victims of Crime defines sexual assault to include forced sexual intercourse, attacks such as rape or attempted rape, sodomy (oral or anal sexual acts), any unwanted sexual contact or threat, touching any part of another person's body in a sexual way (even through clothes), child molestation, and incest. This entry discusses the impact of sexual assault on victims, what makes a person vulnerable, and treatment options.
The Impact of Sexual Assault on Self-Perception
An insidious feature of sexual assault is the feelings of self-blame and shame that are frequently inherent in the experience of the survivor. Regardless of the situation, whether victims could perceive themselves to be in any way collusive with the events or any part of the events (for example, the victim left the bar with the perpetrator-to-be, or was voluntarily ingesting intoxicants) or does not perceive their own collusion in any way does not seem to mitigate the sense of self-blame, guilt, and self-doubt. This feature of the trauma often contributes to feelings of worth-lessness, depression, and decreased self-esteem.
Myths about sexual assault also factor into survivors' perceptions of their experiences; these myths may color perceptions. To illustrate, a person who believes that women “get what they ask for” by a certain type of dress or behavior will concern themselves with reviewing the events and focusing on how they could have dressed or acted differently to prevented the sexual assault. Victim blaming is the concept of placing the responsibility of the crime on the person who was victim to the crime. Victim blaming only perpetuates shame and decreased feelings of self-worth.
Self-perception, colored by previous traumatic events, innate personal resources, and external validation or invalidation affects the survivor's post-assault journey. The victim's sense of safety and sense of self is affected and can have both acute and chronic presentations.
Impact of Sexual Trauma
The sequelae of the event are often long-term with a wide variety of presentations. The short-term impacts of sexual trauma are those symptoms related to the immediate impact of the assault, including physical symptoms (injury, pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, aggravation of comorbidities), emotional symptoms (rape trauma syndrome, perception of safety, depression, withdrawal, inability to concentrate, hypervigilance), social consequences (impact on relationships), and economic impact (lost wages from missed work, issues related to the cost of housing if safety planning results in relocation).
The long-term impact of sexual trauma includes these same issues as well as the impact on the victim related to court proceedings (emotional, financial), physical sequelae (nonspecific chronic symptoms including pelvic pain, nonspecific headaches, nonspecific abdominal pain), emotional impact (dysfunctional coping related to unresolved trauma, sexual dysfunction), and mental health consequences (such as personality disorders, anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, dissociative identity disorder). Many inherent and environmental factors affect the severity and duration of symptoms after sexual assault. People who experience sexual assault will have very individual long-term outcomes from the assault based on their individual experiences, world-views, support systems, resources, self-perceptions, and intrinsic coping abilities.
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