...Understanding the Effects of Sexual Trauma Julie Johnson Liberty University Crisis Counseling 302-B04 March 8, 2015 Abstract Rape and sexual trauma are not just physical violations, but also violations of mental and emotional well-being that leaves the victim with a lifetime of emotional distress. Victims of sexual trauma are often left with devastating consequences that affect the physical, psychological, social and even financial part of their lives. Because the rate of sexual violence continues to increase, researchers study the side effects extensively. Adverse effects of sexual violence are individualized and very diverse, leaving victims with a broad range of impacts. This paper will define what sexual trauma is and the devastating effects it can leave on the lives of the survivors. It will cover different variables such as the psychological impact of the immediate, short term and long term as well as the physical, social, and financial effects of childhood and adult sexual trauma. This paper will hope to promote further discussions on the effects of sexual trauma left on the lives of the victim as to help any individuals and organizations that might work with the victims of such violent acts. The analysis of this report would aim to support individuals working with victims in the recovery process of sexual trauma from family support, spiritual support, and the counseling process. Understanding the Effects of Sexual Trauma According to Basile & Saltzman...
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...Women and P.T.S.D 1 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Women Women and Their Risk for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 8 Oct 2012 PSY 121 Dr. Hornstein Women and P.T.S.D 2 Abstract This paper will explain the causes, symptoms, and treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as it relates to women. A multitude of studies were done showing the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in men but recent studies show the severity of the psychiatric disorder on women. Researchers have found that non-combat veteran females had higher levels of PACAP (pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide) than patients without the psychiatric disorder and none in men.(2) Women and P.T.S.D. 3 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.) is a serious condition that can develop after a person experiences or witnesses a traumatic or terrifying event in which serious physical harm occurred or was threatened. P.T.S.D. is a real diagnosable disorder, (3) although many health insurance companies refuse to acknowledge it by paying for it. P.T.S.D. is a lasting consequence of traumatic ordeals that cause intense fear, helplessness, or horror. People with P.T.S.D. may suffer flashbacks to the traumatic event, become aggressive, or numb, or withdrawn, have nightmares, and become emotionally numb or even violent. Most people who experience a traumatic event will have reaction that may include shock, anger, nervousness, fear, and even guilt. These reactions...
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...Sexual offenders cannot be profiled with any degree of accuracy. Even the majority of sex offenders cannot be generalized to a single profile (Bartol & Bartol, 2014, p. 348). The only thing that all sexual offenders have in common is that they are sexual offenders. The term sexual assault is any sexual contact or behavior that occurs without consent; this is inclusive of rape, child molestation, and more. Rape is considered a Part 1 Crime while sexual offenses are considered a Part II crime (Bartol & Batrol, 2014, p. 6). According to the UCR, rape makes up 3.5% of all Part I crimes (Bartol & Bartol, 2014, p. 17-18). However, this statistic may not be accurate due to the underreporting of sexual offenses. This paper aims to discuss the classification...
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...Sexual Assault Kimberly Lewis UMUC Sexual Assault Introduction According to Ageton (1983), sexual assault has remained a devastating predicament that impacts negatively the lives of children, women and men. Rape is one of the crimes that go unreported because the data that is available does not estimate the real magnitude of the heinous act. Sexual assault victims often suffer from injuries that are inflicted by an executor of the act, or end up dying. Statistics confirms that in the US, one in every 34 men and a fifth of the women experienced either completed or attempted rape in their lives. Some researchers report that after every 3 minutes, someone suffers sexual assault in America. The effect of sexual assault does not only affect emotions but also financial, social, physical and interpersonal domains (Fisher, 2010). Groth (1979) establishes that sexual assault victims may experience many, none or some of the likely repercussions of an attack at different given times. There are certain effects of rape that researchers have never fully identified. Some researchers allege that there is no known way that an individual can apply to identify a sexual assault victim by just looking at them. They allege that effects are not signs of weaknesses, deficiencies or illness, nor are they an individual’s characteristics. Researchers deduce that they are mere responses to events that are traumatic (Fileborn 2011). An array of long-term and short-term...
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...Facts on Domestic, Dating and Sexual Violence Domestic, dating and sexual violence are costly and pervasive problems in this country, causing victims, as well as witnesses and bystanders, in every community to suffer incalculable pain and loss. In addition to the lives taken and injuries suffered, partner violence shatters the sense of well-being that allows people to thrive. It also can cause health problems that last a lifetime, and diminish children’s prospects in school and in life. The United States has made progress in the last few decades in addressing this violence, resulting in welcome declines1 – but there is more work to do to implement the strategies that hold the most promise. These include teaching the next generation that violence is wrong, training more health care providers to assess patients for abuse, implementing workplace prevention and victim support programs, and making services available to all victims including immigrants and children who witness violence. Prevalence of Violence in the United States On average more than three women a day are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the United States. In 2005, 1,181 women were murdered by an intimate partner.2 In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published data collected in 2005 that finds that women experience two million injuries from intimate partner violence each year.3 Nearly one in four women in the United States reports experiencing violence by a current or former spouse...
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...This research proposal analyzes the prevalence of media in today’s society and how impactful images of sexual harassment and assault behavior on these media outlets can be on actual behavior. The paper delves into the massive number of images of interpersonal violence that are on tv and further goes to show studies that show a direct correlation between violent behavior on television to a decrease in empathy and more aggressive actions. The purpose of the study that I am proposing is to increase empathy in viewers of media and create positive change in behavior concerning interpersonal violence. To find out if this is possible I want to conduct a series of experiments that involve participants being split into three groups, an increased in...
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...Posttraumatic stress disorder is a mental disorder that can develop after a person is exposed to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, or other threats on a person's life. Symptoms may include disturbing thoughts, feelings, or dreams related to the events, mental or physical distress to trauma-related cues, attempts to avoid trauma-related cues, alterations in how a person thinks and feels, and increased arousal. In the United States about 3.5% of adults have PTSD in a given year and 9% of people develop it at some point in their life. Symptoms of trauma-related mental disorders have been documented since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. During the World Wars study increased and it was known under various terms including "shell shock" and "combat neurosis". The term "posttraumatic stress disorder" came into use in the 1970s in large part due to the diagnoses of US military veterans of the Vietnam War. It was officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association in 1980 in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Classification...
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...The forensic nurse is responsible for providing compassionate care to victims while collecting pertinent evidence which can later be used to prosecute perpetrators. In addition to evidence collection, the nurse may also serve as an expert witness by testifying in civil or criminal cases in a court of law. Without forensic nurses, many criminals would get away with the crime they committed and would remain on the streets putting the community at risk for future attacks. There are several areas of forensic nursing in which a Nurse can specialize including Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, elder mistreatment and death...
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...lives and not worry about pain. Child Sexual Abuse is a very harrowing experience for many victims. As the child continues to develop though, the sexual abuse can have an enormous impact on their lives, to the extent sometimes that the child no longer realizes it. This is called normalization, according to the Southeast Center Against Sexual Assault and Violence, Normalization of the survivors’ reactions to the abuse experience and the effects this has had on their psychological functioning, both historically...
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...Dishant Shrestha ENG 1100 Research Essay Violence Violence tears thousands of families apart every year. Today there are about 3-4 times as many offenses as there was 75 years ago. You may not think there are as many cases of domestic violence. Domestic violence isn’t always a husband or boyfriend beating their kid or girlfriend/wife. There are several different types of domestic violence, a man beating a women, a man beating his child, a woman beating her significant other, a woman beating her child, or a child abusing his/her parents verbally or physically. There are also cases not only on physical and verbal assault; there are sexual assaults, social abuse, and economic abuse. Most of all acts of domestic violence are involved with alcohol and drugs. Although these things happen every day, they should not happen at all, but some people are afraid or embarrassed about being assaulted. This gets to the point where the victim is so frightened about their assaulter that they won’t even report it to the police, so they go on living in abuse which is not right at all. “Domestic violence causes far more pain than the visible marks of bruises and scars. It is devastating to be abused by someone that you love and think loves you in return. It is estimated that approximately 3 million incidents of domestic violence are reported each year in the United States.” A major percent of domestic violence is occurred from husbands/boyfriends abuse their significant other...
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...Debates on Marital Rape being an exemption in the IPC INTRODUCTION Violence against women within the family has become a contemporary issue. With the mounting concerns of researchers and women activists, a plethora of literature is coming out on the nature, extent and reminiscent strategies of violence within public as well as private domain. The physical and sexual abuse of women in public domain and children has become widely recognized. Laws have been changed, shelters and treatment programs have been launched, and documentaries/movies have been made on the issue, yet sexual relations within married couples are less discussed and scantily researched issues in India. There is a curious silence surrounding sexual violence towards wives as wife, family and children are considered as private issues and moreover notion of family rest on the peace and security of women. Though widespread, sexual violence or marital rape is still regarded as a tabooed issue. Marriage has always been known as a sacred institution but, wonder how much of it exists today. Marriage is no more a ‘sacrosanct institution’, for, there are issues within it that have sort of shaken the ground basis of the entire union of a man and a woman and this idea of the “sacrosanct” institution of marriage is dished out by the mainstream Indian cinema is a myth and is contrary to women’s perceptions of reality. Marriage now, is just not limited to being with the man you love, respect and want to spend your...
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...Marital Rape By Amy Hoekwater December 21, 2012 AMU/CMRJ306 Prof. Natasha Richardson After murder, alone in the United States of America, the prevalence of rape is happened to be second crime that every two minutes sexual harassment case is reported. The most consistent and trustworthy study on the crime was conducted by the US Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization. The study highlights that during the year 2007, about 248,300 sexual harassment cases reported. In the United States, there are various definitions have been drafted to describe the act since it is regarded as a most complicated topic. The spousal rape is characterized as non-consensual and unwanted sex by victims’ spouse, when women surrender due to force or threat or when she don’t want to cohabit (Bergen,1996; Pagelow, 1984; Russell, 1990) According to the findings of the researcher, mostly married women were the victims of force-only sex. The ratio ranges between 10% and 14% (Finkelhor & Yllo, 1985; Russell, 1990). This crime ignored by law, practitioner, social scientists, criminal justice organism and by society too. By 1970, emerged as society and started recognizing that in marital relation rape cold also happen. With the development of time and maturity of law, legal community thought to start or compile work on this significant topic since it is said that wives since taken as personal asset of the husband and that husbands has right to have criminalized rape in marriage...
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...survivors in Kenya Sexual violence is a serious health and violation of human rights issue in Kenya. Sexual violence has adverse psycho-social and physical consequences on the survivors. Following the violence that erupted after the disputed general elections in 2008, the wave of sexual violence targeting women and girls were the clearest manifestations of the intensity of sexual violence in Kenya. Rape violence threatens the attainment of goals of global development and other national goals as contained in Vision 2030 as it leads to affecting the survivors and their health. Sexual violence is a significant risk factor that contributes towards the vulnerability of contracting HIV/AIDS. Sexual violence is an issue of concern in the transmission of the AIDS virus especially among adolescents. These require measures comprehensive to address the issues of sexual violence and meet the complex and diverse needs of the survivors (Bott, Guedes,Guezmes & Claramunt, 2004). Care for the survivors of the violence starts from medical treatment that begins with the management of physical injuries, emergency medication that will ensure the reduction of the risk of contracting viruses. The care also entails the provision of emergency medication that will shield the survivor from getting pregnant. Psycho-social services offered which include counseling to enable the victims deal with the shock and legal procedures for the victims to access justice. Services of sexual violence are increasingly...
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...Page 212-218 (2 sources per person) Intro: Kim, Yan Relational Transgression: Yan (relational transgression + temptations) and Shey (mate guarding, relational infidelity) Interpersonal Violence: Rachel (battering) and Nicole (situational couple violence) Sexual Coercion: John (rape, sexual coercion) and Kim (unwanted sex) Conclusion: Rachel Topic: Relationship Threats (challenges that are most likely to negatively impact relationships and have serious effects) (Kim) Hi everyone. We will start off by introducing ourselves. Today we are going to talk about relationship threats, which are challenges that have negative impacts and serious effects on relationships. Specifically, we will talk about relational transgression, interpersonal violence, and sexual coercion.. It’s important to learn about this topic because all of us have experienced it at some point. We also have done research outside from the textbook. (YAN) According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, one out of ten women has been raped by an intimate partner, and one out of ten men has experienced physical violence. This pie chart shows the distribution of threats, and according to the survey, we can see that 42% of all threats come from physical violence and rape. Moving on to our first main point, relational transgression. Relational transgression takes place when fundamental relationship rules are violated. In romantic relationships, relational transgressions can include flirting...
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...Domestic Violence amongst African American Women Domestic violence occurs in an estimated 4 million intimate relationships each year in the United States. Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in which a person uses coercion, deception, harassment, humiliation, manipulation, and/or force to establish or maintain power and control over his or her intimate partner. Economic, emotional, psychological, physical, sexual, and verbal tactics are used by perpetrators to control and obtain power over their partners. Domestic violence crosses ethnic, racial, age, national origin, sexual orientation, religious, and socioeconomic lines. The majority of victims of domestic violence in heterosexual relationships are women. One out of every three adult women experiences at least one physical assault by an intimate partner during adulthood. African Americans experience domestic violence at a high rate in comparison to their numerical representation in the population. Although domestic and sexual violence occurs in all socioeconomic classes, socioeconomic disadvantages do increase the risk of the incidence of violent crimes. In intimate partner violence cases of spousal assault, power balance is an important risk factor. Among domestic violence cases, husbands who have (or feel that they have) less power than their wives are more physically abusive toward them, because of the perceived lack of power in other areas of their lives. Although there are different sociological theories...
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