Understanding Rape and Sexual Assault
Open Access
- 1 January 2005
- journal article
- review article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Interpersonal Violence
- Vol. 20 (1), 127-131
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260504268604
Abstract
During the past 20 years, researchers have documented the widespread problem of rape in American society. Approximately one in four women are raped in their adult lifetime, which causes severe psychological distress and long-term physical health problems. The impact of sexual assault extends far beyond rape survivors as their family, friends, and significant others are also negatively affected. Moreover, those who help rape victims, such as rape victim advocates, therapists, as well as sexual assault researchers, can experience vicarious trauma. Future research and advocacy should focus on improving the community response to rape and the prevention of sexual assault.Keywords
This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Impact of Rape on Women's Sexual Health Risk Behaviors.Health Psychology, 2004
- Assisting Rape Victims as They Recover From RapeJournal of Interpersonal Violence, 2000
- Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) ProgramsJournal of Interpersonal Violence, 2000
- Constituting Power in Sexual Assault Cases: Prosecutorial Strategies for Victim ManagementSocial Problems, 1998
- Beyond “No Means No”Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1998
- Convictability and Discordant Locales: Reproducing Race, Class, and Gender Ideologies in Prosecutorial DecisionmakingLaw & Society Review, 1997
- Sexual assault history and physical health in randomly selected Los Angeles women.Health Psychology, 1994
- Discrediting Victims' Allegations of Sexual Assault: Prosecutorial Accounts of Case RejectionsSocial Problems, 1991
- Deleterious Effects of Criminal Victimization on Women's Health and Medical UtilizationArchives of Internal Medicine, 1991
- The scope of rape: Incidence and prevalence of sexual aggression and victimization in a national sample of higher education students.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1987