Overview Of Sexual Assault. Sexual Assault Is Quite Common

A study conducted by Ullman, S., Townsend, S., Filipas, H., & Starzynski, L. (2007) evaluated the origin of posttraumatic stress disorder. The purpose of the study is to analyze how sexual assaults can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder. The study was composed of 1,084 women, who responded to mail surveys about unwanted sexual experiences. The first time the researchers sent out the surveys only 90 percent of women responded. The sample in this study decreased to 636 women after many surveys were thrown out due to missing data and not everyone responded. The researchers focused on women ages of 18 to 71 that had unwanted sexual experiences. Out of the 636 women, only 5% of them were never sexually assaulted (Ullman, 2007). These researchers

Early sexual assault increases the potential for later problems and psychological distress, such as anxiety, shame, and depression. Additionally, sexual assault in children and adolescents increases the risk for re-victimization in adults. Re-victimization may occur through the victim’s reenactment of the assault, whether it happened in childhood or adulthood. Furthermore, many victims lack parental concern and warning, such as not being taught to stay away from dangerous areas. In addition to this, many victims are similar to combat veterans as they engage in risky behaviors to achieve an adrenaline high because they survived once, then they can survive again.

Every two minutes someone is sexually assaulted in the United States. Moving closer to home, on our college campuses, one-third of women will be victims of sexual violence before they graduate from a college or university in the United States. Within our seven person student group at Boston University, three of our members are at a high risk of being victims of sexual violence before earning our degrees. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention defines sexual violence as, “Any sexual activity that is not obtained or given freely.” The National Sexual Violence Association explains the different types of sexual violence as rape and sexual assault, child sexual assault and incest, intimate partner sexual assault,

Sexual assault is a board term that is a wide-range of sexual victimization, including rape. Sexual assault deals with being forced into any sexual acts that the person disagrees upon. Sexual assault will occur when the abuser makes sexual passes or without penetration. The action maybe physical force or psychological intimidation. The touching of a person’s sexual or intimate parts are sexual advances. Children who are in the middle stage of their child hood are developing the skill of self-evaluation that is aging around six to twelve years of age. Their prime adaptive ego quality will be competence. A sexual assaulted adolescent at this point of their lives will detach themselves from society (Winograd, 2010).

College aged women are at the highest risk of sexual harassment and sexual assault. The most at risk age group is women from sixteen to nineteen, and the second most at risk age group is women twenty to twenty four years of age (Ward 65). Sexual assault can be defined as unwanted and/or inappropriate sexual advances or obscene remarks, grouping, and any form of rape such as date rape. Studies have shown that sexual assault on college campuses ranges from a 15 percent to 78 percent (Ward 65). In numbers this equates to well over 100,000 victims (Schlozman 236). These staggering amounts reflect the extremely high tolerance for sexual assault is. Belief in rape-myths, attitude and hostility towards women, and mentality are some of the reasons

In the time, it has probably taken you to read this sentence another person has fallen victim to sexual assault. An issue that has gained much attention in the last couple decades, sexual assault has many forms. Defined as any type of sexual contact or behavior that can occur without the explicit consent of the recipient, sexual assault may come in the form of rape, forced sodomy, forcible object penetration, marital rape, unwanted sexual touching, sexual contact with minors, incest, and any unwanted or coerced sexual contact (in text citation). In this paper, assessments will be made of the impact sexual assault has on society, and the different perceptions that arise due to gender. Attempts will be made to analyze the resources available

This week’s reading on the various effects that a survivor of sexual assault endures once in their life left me with a heavy heart. It is upsetting to know how frequently these cases can occur on a daily basis, but it great to know that there are resources out there to help survivors. I feel that if more individuals understood the various ways a survivor may react to sexual assault; it would help to eliminate the idea that someone is being “too dramatic” or “overly exaggerative”. The effect that sexual assault has on the survivor can greatly impact them in their daily tasks, often preventing them from seeking assistance or informing their friends and family on the situation. Fortunately, there are a wide range of resources

In a study that was documented in December 2014, “for the period 1995–2013, females ages 18 to 24 had the highest rate of rape and sexual assault victimizations compared to females in all other age groups” (Langton & Sinozich, p. 1). This report compared and described how sexual assault can effect students and nonstudents, but it focused mainly on females with the male as the offender. “The findings are from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which collects information on nonfatal crimes reported and not reported to police against persons age 12 or older” (Langton & Sinozich, 2014, p. 1). It is important to note that the statistics for sexual assault based on the NCVS may not be accurate due

Although, not all women who are sexually abused go on to live unhealthy lifestyles, the mental aspect of their event haunts them for their lifetime (Gluck, 2016). Mental health continues to be a leading illness in the young population. For women who suffer from sexual violence during their college years, they are prone to post-traumatic stress disorder as they forced to relive the moments of their assault over and over again (RAINN, 2016). Many women become numb and isolate themselves from any relationship that is unfamiliar. The increased paranoia of their ordeal makes it almost impossible to heal and carry out future healthy relationships. These behaviors and feeling are correlated with post-traumatic stress disorder (Krug, Dahberg, Mercy,

After being assaulted or harassed, the victim can potentially have long-term or short term effects. Not only are the victims mental and physical health affected, but their social and economic status as well. After being assaulted, the chances of the person suffering suicidal and depressive thoughts increases. Most women who are raped suffer post-traumatic stress disorder of some sort and 33% consider suicide while 13% actually attempt it. Also, sexual violence affects the victim’s social life, this can include relationships with their friends and family. The victim may have lasting effects such as shame, anger, fear, guilt, anxiety, flashbacks, depression, and powerlessness. The victim may also feel anxious about any type of sexual activity and have feelings of vulnerability around people. Some physical symptoms can include nausea, headaches, gastrointestinal problems, genital injuries, and sleep disorders.

When looking at sexual assault victimization, particularly for college age students, it is important to look at the factors that may affect the likelihood of victimization. Past research has provided insight into some factors, but there is always more information needed. Hines, Armstrong, Reed, and Cameron (2012) estimated that 20%-25% of women will be raped during their college careers, and 10%-22% of men will be raped. Reviewing past literature will show what has been found as far as differences in sexual assault victimization by gender and sexual orientation, as well as supporting the idea that more research necessary.

Sexual violence is a huge growing epidemic that causes serious public health with both long-term and short-term effects on individuals physical and mental well-being. Rape and other forms of violence can resort the victims to have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of how much it emotionally impacts the individual. “94% of women who are raped experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during the two weeks following the rape” (Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics, n.d.). Victims also may believe and feel that their

This study will examine what the factors are that influence which victims of sexual assault experience PTSD symptoms and which treatments help prevent these symptoms from occurring. The sample includes 100 women diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) attributed to rape who participated in a randomized clinical trial. Findings were assessed through coding and analyzed through participants' written statements at three separate time points: before treatment, during treatment, and one year after treatment ceased. Prior research found that some victims are more likely to experience PTSD symptoms that others. More research is needed to understand what cognitive behavioral treatments can better help determine who is more

“Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life." While women are not the only victims of sexual violence, Perreault & Brennan (2010) state “of the sexual assaults reported by respondents to the GSS, 70% involved a female victim” (p. 11). Women between the ages of 18-24 have a higher rate of self-reported sexual violence (Perreault & Brennan, 2010) and it is identified that “in over half (51%) of sexual assault incidents, the perpetrator was a friend, acquaintance,

Surviving any kind of sexual assault is very life traumatic and each survivor deals and responds differently after the assault. Besides the physical effects, survivors also experience mental and emotional effects. Effects can consist of physical injury from the attack, sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy, substance abuse, self harm, Stockholm syndrome, or rape trauma disorder consisting of depression, sleeping disorders, and post traumatic stress disorder. (Yarber and Sayad, pg. 591).