This phenomenological study explores the lived experience of sexual assault survival for women in college. Through a grounding in the philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology (Gadamer, 1960/2000; Heidegger, 1927/1962, 1968, 1928/1998, 1971/2001, 1950/2002), this work uncovers the lives of six sexual assault survivors who lived through rape during…

While Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner programs have improved the treatment of rape victims by offering more compassionate and thorough treatment, SANEs believe victims continue to face revictimization by the medical, criminal justice and legal systems. The purpose of this research is to explore SANEs' perceptions of the revictimization of rape…

In response to the negative and inefficient treatment of rape victims by emergency room personnel, the first Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs began in the late 1970s. While SANEs, doctors, rape victim advocates, police officers and prosecutors work together to ensure the most comprehensive and sensitive care of rape victims, they all…

Despite data indicating that child maltreatment (CM) in various forms is associated with adult sexual victimization among community women, few studies have explicitly explored how types of CM might relate to prison sexual victimization. Because little is known about "how" CM might give rise to prison sexual victimization, the present…

This study examines victim, offender, and offence characteristics associated with sexual assaults by strangers of older women compared to those against younger women. Cases are obtained from the Serious Crime Analysis Section of the United Kingdom National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA; formerly Centrex). All possible cases of rape, attempted…

Rape myths are prejudicial and stereotyped beliefs about rape which persist in society. They may have a significant impact on those affected by rape as well as the performance of legal and public participants in the justice system. Rape myths may differ over time and within different societies and cultural settings. Awareness of contemporary and…

Sexual offences by multiple perpetrators are more violent and involve more severe forms of sexual violation than those perpetrated by a lone offender. Often a clear leader exists within these groups. Questions have been raised as to the relative risk of reoffending and the potentially differing criminogenic needs of leaders and followers. However,…

Longitudinal research designs are relatively rare in the academic literature on rape and sexual assault despite their tremendous methodological rigor and scientific utility. In the interest of promoting wider use of such methods, we conducted a methodological review of projects that have used prospective longitudinal designs to study the…

Prior research has suggested that almost half of rape victims are treated by law enforcement in ways that they experience as upsetting (termed "secondary victimization"). However, it remains unknown why some victims have negative experiences with law enforcement and others do not. The purpose of this study is to explore victims' experiences with…

The current study examined college women's perceptions of the positive and negative socioemotional consequences associated with engaging in self-protective behaviors to reduce risk for sexual victimization. At baseline, women completed assessments of the extent to which they would experience positive or negative socioemotional consequences as a…

This study evaluated the validity of a role-play procedure that uses virtual reality technology to assess women's responses to sexual threat. Forty-eight female undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either a standard, face-to-face role-play (RP) or a virtual role-play (VRP) of a sexually coercive situation. A multimethod assessment…

This report summarises the evidence considered by the Universities UK (UUK) Taskforce to examine violence against women, harassment and hate crime affecting university students, and makes a series of recommendations for universities and UUK. These recommendations cover both prevention activities and how universities can respond to these issues…

Sexual revictimization is frequent among victims of child sexual abuse. Several variables, such as sexual experience, substance abuse, and sexual assertiveness, have been proposed to explain the link between child sexual abuse and adolescent and adult sexual victimization, although they have typically been tested separately. The main objective of…

The purpose of this study is to examine how professionals and paraprofessionals involved with a Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) understand and navigate different professional statutory requirements for victim confidentiality. Telephone surveys are conducted with 78 professionals: medical (27.8%), criminal justice (44.3%), and victim advocacy…

Interpreting the occurrence of sexual violation in seventeenth-century Spanish literary works necessitates for modem scholars the difficult task of understanding prevailing contemporary attitudes toward rape. Studies by Higgins and Silver, Casas, and Welles discuss how literary texts with rape scenes as narrative material often use the act or its…