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Sexual Assault happens every two minutes in this country, make a choice to be a part of the solution.

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• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 5/19/2009 6:39 PM UTC

  Effects of Sexual Assault
  

  Effects of Sexual Assault

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  Sexual assault is an incredibly personal and destructive crime.  Its effects on victims and their loved ones can be felt psychologically, emotionally, and physically.  They can be brief in duration or last a very long time.  It is important to remember that there is no one “normal” reaction to sexual assault. Every individual's response will be different depending on the situation. In this section, we have explained some of the more common effects that a victim may experience. View one of the pages below to learn more about the effects a victim may experience.

  
  

  Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Assault

  There are many reactions that survivors of rape and sexual assault can have. But for adult survivors of childhood abuse there are reactions that may either be different or stronger than for other survivors.

  These include:

  Setting Limits/Boundaries

  • Because your personal boundaries were invaded when you were young by someone you trusted and depended on, you may have trouble understanding that you have the right to control what happens to you.

  Memories/Flashbacks

  • Like many survivors, you may experience flashbacks.

  Anger

  • This is often the most difficult emotion for an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse to get in touch with.
  • As a child your anger was powerless and had little to no effect on the actions of your abuser. For this reason you may not feel confident that you anger will be useful or helpful.

  Grieving/Mourning

  • Being abused as a child means the loss of many things- childhood experiences, trust, innocence, normal relationship with family members (especially if the abuser was a family member).
    • You must be allowed to name those losses, grieve them, and then bury them.

  Guilt, Shame, and Blame

  • You may carry a lot of guilt because you may have experienced pleasure or because you did not try to stop the abuse.
  • There may have been silence surrounding the abuse that led to feelings of shame.
  • It is important for you to understand that it was the adult who abused his/her position of authority and should be held accountable, not you.

  Trust

  • Learning to trust again may be very difficult for you.
  • You may find that you go from one extreme to the other, not trusting at all to trusting too much.

  Coping Skills

  • You have undoubtedly developed skills in order to cope with the trauma.
    • Some of these are healthy (possibly separating yourself from family members, seeking out counseling, etc.)
    • Some are not (drinking or drug abuse, promiscuous sexual activity, etc.)

  Self-esteem/Isolation

  • Low self-esteem is a result of all of the negative messages you received and internalized from your abusers.

  • Because entering into an intimate relationship involves trust, respect, love, and the ability to share, you may flee from intimacy or hold on too tightly for fear of losing the relationship.

  Sexuality

  • You likely have to deal with the fact that your first initiation into sex came as a result of sexual abuse.
  • You may experience the return of body memories while engaging in a sexual activity with another person. Such memories may interfere in your ability to engage in sexual relationships which may leave you feeling frightened, frustrated, or ashamed.

  Battered Woman Syndrome

  A controversial concept, battered woman syndrome is a model that was developed by Dr. Lenore E. Walker to describe the mindset and emotional state of a battered woman.

  Body Memories

  Body memories are when the stress of the memories of the abuse experienced by an individual take the form of physical problems that cannot be explained by the usual means.

  Borderline Personality Disorder

  Borderline Personality Disorder is one of the most controversial mental illness diagnoses in Psychology today.

  Complex PTSD

  Diagnosis necessary to describe the symptoms experienced by survivors of long-term trauma such as child sexual abuse and prostitution.

  Depression

  There are many emotional and psychological reactions that victims of rape and sexual assault can experience. One of the most common of these is depression.

  Dissociative Identity Disorder

  Dissociation is a mental process in which a person's thoughts and feelings may be separated from his or her immediate reality.

  Flashbacks

  Flashbacks are when memories of past traumas feel as if they are taking place in the current moment.

  Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

  PTSD is not a rare or unusual occurrence, in fact, many people experience PTSD as a result of a traumatic experience such as rape or sexual assault.

  Pregnancy

  If you were recently raped, you may have concerns about becoming pregnant from the attack.

  Rape Trauma Syndrome

  Rape Trauma Syndrome is a common reaction to a rape or sexual assault. It is the human reaction to an unnatural or extreme event.

  Sexually Transmitted Infections

  Table of Sexually Transmitted Infections, their symptoms, treatment, and possible complications.

  Suicide

  If you are currently thinking about suicide, or know someone who is, please reach out for help.

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