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Kaylee Fluckiger

Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2010

April 3, 2018

The Effects of Sexual Assault

Merriam Webster dictionary describes sexual assault as “illegal sexual contact that

usually involves force upon a person without consent or is inflicted upon a person who is

incapable of giving consent or who places the assailant in a position of trust or authority.” This is

a very broad definition considering how many different types of sexual assault can happen. How

do the victims get over the trauma and how does it affect them?

In speaking to numerous victims of sexual assault who wish to remain anonymous, there

was an apparent theme of guilt and shame around the assault. One victim was only 13 when she

was raped by a male next-door neighbor whom she trusted and enjoyed being around. When

asked about how she was able to go back to normal life, she says, “I knew that everyone around

me was living regular lives and were clueless to what had just happened. In a way, I had to put

on a mask and pretend to be like everyone else until I was able to live normally again.” Julia

Skinner, a journalist from Iowa University, writer of the article ​Recovery from Trauma: A Look

Into the Process of Healing from Sexual Assault,​ and victim of sexual assault states, “all I knew

was that I felt dirty and violated” (171). She describes how she became very isolated and was not

able to recognize all the support she had available to her. Sexual assault is something that lasts a

lifetime and the victim never forgets.

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In a study done by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2013, they reported that between

2005 and 2010, nearly 78% of sexual violence involved an offender who was a family member,

intimate partner, friend, or acquaintance. It is very rare to hear the victim did not know their

perpetrator. In the same study they stated that in 11% of rape or sexual assault victimizations,

the perpetrator was armed with a gun, knife, or other weapon. The word assault can have many

different meanings and definitions. The perpetrator may be very violent or very forceful.

In other cases with young children you will often hear of “grooming”. This is when the

offender gives the victim gifts or makes them feel good about themselves in order to gain their

trust or fill a need. This is becoming very common online with chat rooms and social media.

Anyone can hide behind a screen and pretend to be someone they are not, gaining the victim’s

trust. In the article ​Public perceptions of internet, familial and localised sexual grooming:

Predicting perceived prevalence and safety ​done by Matthew Williams and Kirsty Hudson, the

two talk about a new Act being put into play to protect the cyber victims of grooming. “Section

15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, referred to as the ‘‘grooming offence’’, was implemented

after increasing concern over the sexual grooming of children via the internet” (219).

A study done by AAUW in 2016, claims that 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted

while they are in college. There is always almost some kind of alcohol consumed when the

assault is taking place by one or both people. Since 2015, more colleges are providing “safe

spaces” where students can go to to report an assault or get in contact with authorities to address

a situation they feel is immoral or wrong.

October 2017, there was a new movement being brought into light on Twitter. Victims of

sexual assault were now coming together and using #metoo to bring themselves into the light,
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tell their stories and show their support. Later in the month a woman by the name of “Kate”

posted a video to Youtube on Buzzfeed’s channel called “This is my Assault Story #metoo.” The

video begins in a calm setting where she sits in her living room. In the background is a mattress

placed against the wall. She addresses this as the mattress she was raped on six months ago. “I

thought about burning it, donating it, throwing it away” she says shakily. “I still had so much

anger and shame… I’m over this.” She took the mattress to her front yard and wrote #metoo in

big red letters on the front of it leaving markers on the ground to encourage others to write their

stories or give their support to the victims. She left for work and when she returned, her mattress

had writing on every inch of it. There were other #metoo’s, stories, signatures and supporting

words. “It was very emotional I will not lie” Kate says through tears.

After the video was made public there were marches, debates and more victims coming

forward with their stories in court. #metoo was now trending on twitter, thousands of men and

women shared their stories and helped each other through the pain.

Going through a sexual assault is a very traumatic experience. There is shock

immediately after it happens and it can take years to move on and accept what happened. There

is a lot of self reflection on what the victim could have done differently to avoid the situation or

notice the signs earlier. Guilt is the main emotion that the victims feel. It is their body and they

feel they are responsible for what is done to it. Even if they were completely vulnerable and

defenseless in the moment. For some, they have to see their perpetrator daily and not say

anything. In any case there is always fear. Each assault is different and has many different factors

that went into play while it happened. More women than men are sexually assaulted but it does

still happen to men.

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In April of 2017, USA Today

did a study on the most common

emotions associated with sexual assault

victims. The emotions surveyed were

PTSD, depression, distress,

contemplating suicide and guilt. They

discovered that 94 percent of the

victims stated they had PTSD, 70 claiming to have experienced distress, 30 contemplating

suicide, 52 having some form of depression, and 78 experiencing guilt around the assault.

Victims are often quickly thrown in many directions, figuratively speaking, when they decide to

come forward with their story. They experience a wide range of emotions that need to be

addressed sooner in the process. Trying to have someone speak of something traumatic that was

very recent has proven to be very difficult for the parties involved. So what is the right way to

address the situation?

The first and possibly most important step in any sexual assault case is allowing the

victim to feel safe and secure. They have been through something that is life changing and they

will remember it forever. The second step is providing multiple resources for the victim to use.

Having a support group will allow them to talk more freely about something rather than feel they

have to or it it necessary. April is also sexual assault awareness month, support is everything.

Movements like the #metoo and the marches and debates that followed are there to show people

that there are others and they are not alone in this.
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Works Cited

Skinner, Julia. "Recovery from Trauma: A Look into the Process of Healing from Sexual

Assault." ​Journal of Loss & Trauma​, vol. 14, no. 3, May/Jun 2009, pp. 170-180.

Michael G. Planty, Ph.D., et. al., “Female Victims Of Sexual Violence, 1994-2010” ​Bureau of

Justice Statistics​, Mar. 2013

Williams, Matthew L. and Kirsty Hudson. "Public Perceptions of Internet, Familial and

Localised Sexual Grooming: Predicting Perceived Prevalence and Safety." ​Journal of Sexual

Aggression​, vol. 19, no. 2, July 2013, pp. 218-235.

As/Is, Kate. “This is my Assault Story #metoo” ​Youtube.com, ​Boldly, 20 Oct. 2017. Web.

Accessed 18 Apr. 2018

“10 ways to Fight Against Sexual Assault on Campus.” AAUW.org, Apr. 2016. Web. Accessed

18 Apr. 2018

Godlasky, Anne. “Rape costs survivors stress, trust, sleep and about $122,000” ​USA Today​, 5

Apr. 2017.