Individuals who fall victim to repeated sexual assaults may face greater levels of psychological problems than previously believed, a new study finds.
Previous studies have revealed that one in five women and one in 100 men are victims of sexual assaults. In the last few years, this number has increased to two in five women and one in five men. According to the findings of a new study, individuals who are victims of repeated sexual assaults, not necessarily violent rapes, suffer from great psychological consequences than previously believed.
"Our findings are important because we are able to identify some of the weaknesses and potential fallacies in classifying survivors based on the violence encountered during the assault," said Bryana French, lead author of the study, in a press statement. "Indirect, repeated or subtle manipulation tactics can lead to a lifetime of psychological consequences."
French pointed out that most studies that look into sexual assaults base their research on the severity of the incident. According to French, understanding the patterns of victimization provides better understanding of the psychological consequences the victim might face.
Through the study she found that victims that are repeatedly assaulted through physical force as well as verbal coercion show the greatest level of psychological consequences along with those who are given unwanted substances like drugs or alcohol to pressure them into intercourse. Such people also tend to have greater sexual risk-taking and lower self esteem later in life.
"Most sexual victimization research tends to focus on forcible, violent rape while the subtler forms of sexual assault, like manipulation and coercion, are less studied," French said. "Unfortunately, we know that people who are victimized often experience re-victimization by the same or different individual. Our research focuses on those individuals who receive multiple forms of unwanted sexual advances and the psychological toll those experiences take on the victims."
The study was published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
