Stacy Castaneda

Sexual assault is considered to be any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs
without the explicit consent of the recipient (The United States Department of Justice). This type
of assault also includes other sexual activities when they are forced. Examples of these are forced
intercourse, sodomy, molestation (child), incest, and attempted rape (The United States
Department of Justice). Offenders can not only force victims physically, but they can also force
victims in an emotional way. This can be done by using psychological force and manipulating
the victim (The United States Department of Justice).
There are many effects caused by sexual assault. This can vary from different kinds of
disorders and different types of trauma (Boyd). Some of the most common effects of sexual
assault are depression, flash backs, substance use, sexually transmitted diseases, self-harm and
PTSD (RAINN, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, is
caused by exposure to a traumatic event (Chivers-Wilson). Different types of experiences with
sexual assault will have different kinds of effects (Boyd; Morrisone; Quadra;Boyd). There are
two ways to examine the concept of trauma. It has useful aspects and it is also criticized
(Morrisone; Quadra;Boyd). In the useful aspect, the concept of trauma is used to understand the
effects of rape (Morrisone; Quadra;Boyd). It is argued that trauma the response model of PTSD.
It helps other people know what the victim had gone through and how much harm is has caused
them (Morrisone; Quadra;Boyd). When the concept of trauma is criticized, it is because people
believe that various measures of trauma are not always adequately sensitive to diversity
(Morrisone; Quadra;Boyd). An example that is provided is that there are different trauma
measures within different population groups due to their experience and perception on the
situation (Boyd).

Stacy Castaneda

Sexual assault can have various impacts on different victims. This is because the impact it
has can be determined by the severity of the assault and the perception of the victim on that
situation (Boyd). There are two kinds of psychological and emotional impacts, short-term and
long-term. Short-term effects can happen even during the assault. This is because it is common to
experience fear and think of possible death when being assaulted (Boyd). This can leave the
victim paralyzed and unable to do anything, however, it does not mean that the victim wanted to
receive that type of contact by any means (Boyd). Even if the victims decides that resisting is not
in their favor and lets the offender take over still does not mean that it is wanted contact (Boyd).
Research tells us that fear is a very common short-term effect of sexual assaults. Anxiety and fear
can be experienced even three weeks after the assault in which the level of fear peaks because
the victim may think it will happen again (Boyd). Other indicators that fear is a common effect is
that if the person has ongoing fears, it can be related to an attack they may have experienced.
Another may be fear of contracting sexually transmitted diseases or becoming pregnant due to
sexual assault. Fear of an attack happening again and fear of being devalued because of
experiencing an assault are also other indicators (Boyd). Medium to long-term effects can consist
of the victim having low self-esteem and even blaming themselves for what happened (Boyd;
Morrisone; Quadra;Boyd). A huge effect is that victims often become suicidal. This is very
common for many victims and is even more common for younger victims of sexual assault
(Boyd).
Another category of effects is PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). PTSD is a
psychiatric label for a collection of psychological symptoms following a traumatic event
(Boyd). Even though PTSD is very common in victims of sexual assault, there are different kinds
of severities that are experienced by different victims (Boyd). Some symptoms of PTSD can

Stacy Castaneda

consist of having intrusive thoughts and also having distressing memories of the actual attack
(Chivers-Wilson; Boyd). Other symptoms include having nightmares or other sleep disturbances,
depression, which can last for three years or more, mood or anxiety disorders, and having
avoidant behavior (Chivers-Wilson).
There are many different types of victims that have experienced sexual assault. This
includes women, men, and children. However, women who have experienced sexual assault may
make up the largest group of people affected by PTSD (Boyd; RAINN, Who Are the
Victims?). Many studies in the United States concluded that between 35% and 57% of
community-based samples of rape victims suffer from PTSD at some point in their life (Boyd).
When someone is sexually assaulted they are often not the only victim. People like
family members and close friends can also be affected in a situation like this one. These victims
are called secondary victims (Morrisone; Quadra; Boyd). Secondary victims go through
secondary traumatization. It was found that there are high levels of in-supportive behavior from
family members due to the fact that they too have been affected (Morrisone; Quadra; Boyd).
Researchers also found that this type of behavior form secondary victims can help determine
what kind of damage the assault caused (Morrisone; Quadra; Boyd). When people support the
needs of secondary victims they can recognize the impact that sexual assault has on people and
not only help secondary victims, but the primary victims too (Morrisone; Quadra; Boyd). They
also concluded that up to 16.5% of survivors met PTSD criteria an average of 17 years postassault (Morrisone; Quadra; Boyd).
Sexual assault can happen anywhere to anyone. There have been reports of it happening
on campuses to both genders (RAINN, Who Are the Victims). However, women are more

Stacy Castaneda

prone to being sexually assaulted (RAINN, Who Are the Victims). The RAINN (Rape, Abuse,
and Incest National Network), organization has reported many statistics regarding who the
victims are when it comes to sexual assault. RAINN tells us that one out of every six American
women has been the victim of attempted or completed rape in her life time. Out of this data,
14.8% of assaults were completed rape and 2.8% attempted rape (Who Are the Victims).
RAINN also lets us look at these statistics in a larger scale. It tells us that 17.7 million American
women have been victims of completed rape (Who Are the Victims). Women are not the only
victims. Men can also experience sexual assault. Studies show that 3% of American men have
been victims of attempted or completed rape (RAINN, Who Are the Victims). When
comparing women to men, men have a much smaller number of victims who have experienced
completed rape (2.78 million) (RAINN, Who Are the Victims).
Children can also experience sexual assault at very young ages. In fact, 15% of sexual
assault and rape victims are under the age of twelve. Girls that are between the ages of 14-16 are
four times more likely to being sexually assaulted than the rest of the general population
(RAINN, Who Are the Victims). Children who are sexually abused can experience
interruptions in their development and can even make them more prone to being sexually
assaulted in the future (National Center for Victims of Crime.)
Some effects that are common to experience after being sexually assaulted are that
victims are three times more likely to suffer from depression, six times more likely to suffer from
PTSD, thirteen times more likely to abuse alcohol, twenty-six times more likely to abuse drugs,
and four times more likely to contemplate suicide (RAINN, Who Are the Victims). Sexual
assault also takes a toll on a victims daily life. This is due to the victim being more prone to
having low self-esteem and embarrassed about their experience (Boyd). A common effect is

Stacy Castaneda

being afraid of having intimate relationships post being assaulted. This is because the victim has
essentially been traumatized (University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre). Although this side
effect is only temporary, it can cause frustration due to the victims and their partners intimate
relations being suppressed (University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre).
Sexual assault is a topic more individuals should be aware of. Each year there are
293,000 cases without taking in to account the cases that do not get reported (RAINN,
Statistics). Although 293,000 can seem like a small number compared to the rest of the 7
billion people in the world to some, when put into another perspective we find that every 107
seconds an American is assaulted (RAINN, Statistics). This topic is becoming a larger problem
and we have to take a stand against it. Sexual assault can happen to anyone which is why we as
individuals have to be supportive and aware about it.

Stacy Castaneda

6
Bibliography

Boyd, Cameron. The Impacts of Sexual Assualt on Women. April 2011. Web source. 27 October
2015.
Chivers-Wilson, Kaitlin A.. Sexuall Assault and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. July 2006. Web
source. 27 October 2015.
Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network. Who Are the Victims? n.d. Web source. 27 October
2015.
Morrisone, Zoe and Antonia Quadara and Cameron Boyd. "Ripple Effects" of Sexual Assault.
June 2007. Web Source. 27 October 2015.
National Center for Victims of Crime. Effects of Child Sexual Abuse on Victims. n.d. Web
Source. 25 October 2015.
Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. Effects of Sexual Assault. n.d. Web Source. 30
October 2015.
Rape, Abuse, and Incest, National Network. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD. n.d. Web
Source. 5 November 2015.
Rape, Abuse, and Incest, National Network. Statistics. n.d. Web Source. 29 October 2015
The United States Deparment of Justice. Sexual Assault. 2 April 2015. Web Source. 30 October
2015.

Stacy Castaneda
Univeristy of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre. Sexual Intimacy After Sexual Assault or Sexual
Abuse. n.d. Web Source. 4 November 2015.
Cover Photo:
Macdonald, Steve. Democrat Aide Pleads Guilty to Sexual Assault. 04 December 2014. Web
Source. 14 November 2015.
<http://granitegrok.com/blog/2014/12/democrat-aide-pleads-guilty-sexual-assault>