Article

Qualitative Social Work

12(6) 799–815
The dance of disclosure: ! The Author(s) 2012
Reprints and permissions:

Online self-disclosure sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav

DOI: 10.1177/1473325012464383

of sexual assault qsw.sagepub.com

Rosetta Moors and Ruth Webber

Australian Catholic University, Australia

Abstract
The painful route that many survivors take to disclosing sexual assault is well docu-
mented, as is the low rate of formal reporting of such incidents. Previous research has
examined self-disclosure in traditional settings but not online, where this research
found a small but significant amount of help-seeking behaviour occurring. An in-depth
analysis of 31 questions and answers on Yahoo! Answers in Australia containing dis-
closures of sexual assault was conducted. Drawing on interpretive descriptive method-
ology, clear patterns of help-seeking behaviours and responses were identified and
categorized. These patterns constitute what we termed the ‘dance of disclosure’, a
theme that could form the basis for further research in this area. Survivors disclosing on
this site frequently expressed feeling ‘nowhere else to turn’. In particular a highly vul-
nerable group was identified as utilizing this medium – survivors who had been abused
by people close to them in the past when they were under the age of puberty. Although
most responses were supportive, a small number of negative comments were of con-
cern, given survivors’ particular sensitivity to feedback and the influence initial
responses have on their inclination to disclose further. As these sites attract survivors
reluctant to make contact with social workers and online disclosure can leave victims
open to internet predators, we encourage sexual assault counselling centres to con-
sider new outreach methods such as informal monitoring of these sites to offer support
and notify survivors of available professional services. It concludes by mentioning some
innovative online outreach methods currently being practiced.

Keywords
Online, qualitative secondary analysis, sexual abuse

Corresponding author:
Rosetta Moors, Australian Catholic University, 115 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy 3065 Australia.
Email: rosetta.moors@rmit.edu.au

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

800 Qualitative Social Work 12(6)

Introduction
Online question and answer forums are a relatively recent phenomenon and have
been subject to little academic scrutiny. Yahoo! Answers1 is a community-driven
online knowledge market established in 2005 which provides a forum for registered
members to ask and answer questions about a wide range of topics such as beauty,
food, politics and health. Little research has been done on sharing sensitive topics
in online environments and even less on discussion of sexual assault. Analysis has
previously been conducted into verbal responses to disclosure of sexual assault, but
not into the patterns of disclosure themselves, either verbal or online. Sexual
assault has significant, negative long-term effects on survivors and disclosure is
often a difficult and painful process which can take many years. This research
found a small but significant amount of help-seeking behaviour occurring online.
Through utilizing an interpretive analysis of the data the researchers examined
texts of disclosures of sexual assault made on Yahoo! Answers, the type of help
they were seeking, type of responses they received and the emotional tone of the
question. The meaning behind the questions and answers was interpreted using an
inductive analytic approach. This article is divided into four sections: firstly, a
review of literature is conducted exploring the documented negative consequences
of sexual assault, the difficult process of disclosing and naming the incident and the
effects of positive and negative responses on survivors. Next, the methodology of
this study is outlined and then an analysis of the data is conducted. Finally, ana-
lysis and literature are linked to elucidate a process we termed the ‘dance of dis-
closure’. Within this ‘dance’ patterns of admission and response are identified that
could form the basis of further research in the area of online self-disclosure of
sensitive topics. This article concludes by referring to some new outreach methods
that have recently been developed by various counselling services to capture
these survivors who are disinclined to access traditional counselling and social
work services.

Review of literature
The significant, negative long-term consequences of sexual assault are well docu-
mented. This includes immediate and ongoing complex emotional reactions includ-
ing anger, anxiety, depression, self-blame, guilt, shame, humiliation, fear,
numbness, a sense of loss, helplessness, isolation, alienation, low self-esteem, self-
doubt, diminished self-belief and interpersonal difficulties (Briere and Elliott, 1994;
Fortier et al., 2009; Gold et al., 2008; Rothbaum et al., 1992; Santello and
Leitenberg, 1993). Studies show that non-disclosure is detrimental to health
(Sinclair and Gold, 1997) and appropriate disclosure and help-seeking decreases
psychological distress (Rickwood et al., 2005) and renders the survivor less vulner-
able to re-victimization (Acierno et al., 1999). Disclosing the incident, ‘telling
anyone about the abuse, including formal or informal support sources’ (Ullman,
2002: 913) is often not a static, one-off event but a complicated and cyclical process,

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

Moors and Webber 801

characterized by uncertainty, about who can be trusted, what the consequences will
be and the benefits of reporting (Ullman, 2011).
This challenging step often takes survivors many years to achieve (Kelly and
Radford, 1990). Disclosure of sexual assault can take a long time, if at all
(Quadara, 2008). Only an estimated 15 percent of sexual assaults are formally
reported to police (Lievore, 2003), approximately a third of all victims do not dis-
close to anyone (Golding et al., 1989; Koss, 1985; Nevala, 2005), while ‘up to two-
thirds of women delay disclosing sexual assault for a year or more’ (Ullman, 2011:
155). Two factors make disclosure more problematic, firstly, social proximity of the
victim to the perpetrator; the closer the relationship, the more unlikely the survivor
is to report the offence or seek counselling (Arata 1998; Karjane et al., 2002;
Vic Health, 2004). Secondly, the age of the assault victim, those assaulted as children
often took longer than others to disclose; studies estimating that approximately half
those surveyed had not told anyone over five years after the incident (Hebert et al.,
2009; Jonzon and Lindblad, 2004; Ullman, 2007). If these two factors converge, that
is the young survivor is close to the perpetrator, disclosure is even more difficult
(Smith et al., 2000); not only emotionally, but also practically. If the perpetrator is a
family member or trusted family friend it can be difficult for a minor to involve
counsellors or police without the adults in their lives knowing (Feldhaus et al., 2000).
An important first step in disclosing an incident is being able to label or ‘name’ it
as sexual assault (Karjane et al., 2002) but studies conducted in the USA found only
approximately 25 percent of rape survivors actually called the incident ‘rape’ (Koss,
1985; Schwartz and Leggett, 1999). A failure to disclose can be due to many factors
including: feelings of shame, embarrassment, fear of blame, self-blame, and uncer-
tainty about others’ reactions (Quadara, 2008; Staller and Nelson-Gardell, 2005;
Ungar et al., 2009) as well as negative attitudes towards the legal processes, the
justice system and professional help-seeking (Lievore, 2003, Payne et al., 2008),
concerns regarding confidentiality, a lack of emotional competence and a lack of
experience regarding health care systems (James, 2007; Ungar et al., 2009).
Literature divides disclosure of assault into formal; when the survivor informs by
way of making a formal report to such authorities as the police, school principal,
clergy or counsellor, and informal disclosure to friends, family member or associates
(Ahrens et al., 2007; Ullman and Filipas, 2001). Studies show that if survivors do
disclose, it is initially informally to friends and family members (Fisher et al., 2003)
rather than to formal support providers (Ahrens et al., 2007; Ullman, 2011) and they
principally seek support rather than advice (Frazier and Burnett, 1994). Children
and adolescents, especially, commonly delay, partially disclose, retract, affirmatively
disclose, recant, accidentally disclose, and reaffirm the incident (Sorenson and Snow,
1991) so, as stated by Staller and Nelson-Gardell, ‘in short, the path of disclosure
can be bumpy. The net result is that it may be the exception, rather than the rule, that
children disclose their abuse in a timely, thorough, and tidy fashion’ (2005: 1416).
Not all disclosure is beneficial and the outcome depends on whether survivors
receive negative or positive feedback, how close they are to the person to whom
they are disclosing and the nature of their trauma (Ahrens et al., 2010; Shroud,

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

802 Qualitative Social Work 12(6)

1999; Ullman, 2002, 2011). Survivors are sensitive to feedback, often ‘internalizing
what others tell them about who is at fault’ (Schwartz and DeKeseredy, 1997: 69)
and reactions of the first people told, heavily influences their willingness to discuss
the incident further (Sudderth, 1998). Ahrens et al. (2009: 91) found that respond-
ents sharing of their own sexual assault story often helped the victim to ‘normalize’
the situation and blame themselves less. A large number of studies document reac-
tions to disclosure (refer to Ullman 2002) however this research drew on Ahrens’
work (2007, 2009) as it succinctly categorized responses into five positive groups:
empathetic, supportive, mobilizing support, giving tangible aid, and seeking
revenge, and five negative groups: cold and detached, blaming, doubting, refusing
to help and generally being unsupportive.

Method
For this project 63 unique questions registered to the geographic area ‘Australia’
that related to ‘sexual assault’ ‘rape’ or ‘incest’ were gathered from Yahoo!
Answers. Each question garnered an average of five to six answers. All questions
and answers remain on the Yahoo! Answers forum indefinitely (unless deleted by
the moderator due to unsuitable content). So Askers can access a permanent tex-
tural record and others can view it too. Of these 63 questions, 13 asked about
sexual abuse that had happened to another person, 19 questions discussed sexual
assault in general terms and nearly half (31) included some sort of personal self-
disclosure about sexual assault, which is the focus of this article. The spelling,
wording and grammar of the original posted questions have been preserved and
quoted exactly as they appeared in Yahoo! Answers.
An interpretative analysis was undertaken that sought to understand the under-
lying meaning behind the questions using an inductive analytic approach that has
been used in counselling settings (Osborne, 1990; Thorne et al., 1998; Thorne,
2008). This is a method which was designed to create ways of understanding the
phenomenon (Thorne et al., 1998, Thorne, 2008) and which has been used in much
qualitative health research. A gender could sometimes be gleaned from the Askers2
online Avatar3 or their username, however we chose not to analyse this as self-
reporting of demographic details are widely recognized as unreliable (Dombrowski
et al., 2007; Suler, 2004). This study adopted Ahrens et al. (2007) categories of
formal and informal disclosure types outlined above.

Analysis
Firstly, the context of the alleged assault such as survivors’ age, nature of the
incident and victim’s relationship to the perpetrator were examined and coded.
The reported time of the assault was grouped into: ‘current’ – incidents that had
occurred in the last two weeks; ‘ongoing’ – incidents that were continuing to occur;
‘recent’ – incidents that had occurred in the past two years, and ‘past’ – incidents
that had occurred over two years ago. The subjective aspects of the writing were

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

Moors and Webber 803

analysed for emotional tone, length of questions, personal information, the strug-
gles survivors faced with labelling the incident, and help they sought. Four distinct
themes were identified from these aspects which were titled ‘naming’, ‘unburden-
ing’, ‘emoting’ and ‘seeking’. Finally, the responses posted to the questions on
Yahoo! Answers were analysed in respect to their tone and type of support offered.

Tracing the ‘dance of disclosure’ – findings

The difficulties survivors experience with disclosing were depicted in the way they
‘danced around’ revealing details of the sexual assault in this online forum.
A typical ‘dance of disclosure’ included four main features. Firstly, s/he often
talked about his/her confusion and reluctance to ‘name’ the incident as sexual
assault. Secondly, the typical Asker included long descriptions of his/her emotional
reaction to the incident. Thirdly, the question was written in an ‘unburdening’ tone,
it often did not include a clearly defined ‘question’ but rather an extended account
of the circumstances of the incident. Fourthly, s/he discussed what help had or had
not been sought and what support had been forthcoming from this. The partners in
the ‘dance of disclosure’ were the Yahoo! respondents who provided feedback in
the form of ‘Answers’ to Askers. The part they played was mainly supportive (with
one exception) with some even revealing their own abuse.

Context of the dance

Significant findings came from three main areas; relationship of the perpetrator to
the Asker, length of time since the abuse, and timing of disclosure. There were
32 self-disclosures of sexual assault (one Asker disclosed two instances) and a clear
pattern emerged when analysing these. Firstly, a majority (17) alleged the incident
was perpetrated by someone close to them, such as partners, close family members
or friends; whereas eight were said to be committed by associates, such as class-
mate, colleagues or acquaintances, four by strangers and three did not specify a
perpetrator. Secondly, most incidents recounted (13) were said to have occurred in
the past (over two years ago), a further ten referred to incidents that had occurred
recently (up to two years ago). Only two questions referred to incidences that had
recently occurred, two to instances of ongoing abuse and five did not specify a time
frame. Notably, nine of the 13 Askers who recounted past instances had been
abused by someone close. Therefore in this study those survivors who had been
abused by people close to them (friends, family members or partners) in the past
(over two years ago) appeared to experience the most difficulty disclosing face-to-
face and were more likely to disclose on this anonymous online forum.

Initiating the ‘dance of disclosure’ – survivors

It appears that survivors go online to express their confused feelings about an
incident in the hope of seeking clarity as well as gaining helpful feedback.

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

804 Qualitative Social Work 12(6)

Part of their motivation may be a desire to gauge general opinion whilst remaining
anonymous. One of the common traits of these questions was the Askers’ reluc-
tance to ‘name’ the incident as sexual assault. Twelve of the self-disclosing ques-
tions grappled with this issue, and half of these related to incidents of past abuse by
someone close to the Asker, for example:

YQ21. Is this child abuse or am I just overreacting?

. . . In 7th grade, I met a guy at church that was lot older, in high school, he became my
first boyfriend. He kissed me and tried to touch me when I told him no, but I didnt
fight I just froze up instead. We dated for 2 years, and most of it I forget. I remember
feeling dead inside, and suddenly all I was worth was sex, I thought thats what
everyone wanted from me. I remember crying at night until I threw up, not being
able to communicate with other people, etc . . . but not my relationship except that
I would just give him what he wanted. I started to feel like I needed him, all the time,
and all of my self esteem was gone without him. I remember him pressuring me and
guilting me into sex alot . . .

I knew some girls that were sexually active in Jr. High and they seemed completely fine

I am starting to think that it was sort of like child abuse, as I was so nieve, and he
knew what he was doing and was older . . . but I remember people just thinking I was
this promiscuous teenager that needed to be stopped. Was I just stupid and had sex
early like lots of teens? The pain I remember feeling just doesnt seem right . . .

In addition, in all six of these cases, the survivor reported they were under the
approximate age of puberty (12 years) when the abuse had occurred. In contrast,
the other six Askers disclosing recent and current assaults were older at the time of
the incident and usually assaulted by people not close such as associates or stran-
gers. This illustrates how the effects of the assault are more traumatic for survivors
the closer they are to the perpetrator.
The 31 self-disclosing questions were significantly more emotional in their tone
containing 36 expressions of emotion (termed ‘emoting’ in this study) compared to
only eight expressions in the other 32 questions. Shame was most common, with
Askers often describing feeling too ashamed to disclose earlier. Other emotions
expressed were loneliness, fear, confusion, a feeling of ‘going mad’, and a deaden-
ing of all emotion (refer to Table 1 below). Only one Asker expressed any sort of
positive emotion, which was reported in ‘Additional Details’ a few days after
posting the question. There were no expressions of anger by the self-disclosing
group.
Another aspect of these self-disclosing questions was the need for Askers to
‘unburden’ themselves. They depict this ‘dance of disclosure’ in their long descrip-
tive ‘stories’ in which asking actual ‘questions’ appears almost incidental. Rather
they grapple with disclosing and in so doing express a host of emotions engendered

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

Moors and Webber 805

Table 1. Emotions expressed in self-disclosing questions.

Emotion Instances Example

Shame/Guilt 11 YQ42. this was a few months ago but i didn’t tell
anyone because i was embarrased if he makes
fun of me i must be a freak right? Y061.You’re
most likely gonna be disgusted at my actions
and I am too now:\.I know what I did was
wrong and stupid.:\
Loneliness 8 YQ24. . . .but the last couple weeks i havnt slept and
am not coping it was a stranger rape i feel
depressed and alone and basacly not coping
at all.
Fear 6 YQ05. But im 17 and so scared because of this and i
am underage for doctors and everything.
‘Going insane’ 4 YQ38. I think I am losing my mind, is this normal?
Suppressed emotion 2 YQ44. I haven’t felt anything about it for three years,
suppressed emotion. And now, I haven’t
escaped it in 15 hours since I woke up.
Confusion 3 YQ21. I am 21 now, but it still haunts me for some
reason. But I feel silly, like it shouldnt haunt me?
Relief – positive emotion 1 YQ52. Additional Details: I went to the police sta-
tion yesterday morning to discuss more about
this and they called him in and he ended up
admitting everything!! I’m so relieved:)
Anger 0

by the incident. Eight of the self-disclosing questions were written in this ‘unbur-
dening’ style, seven of these were accounts of abuse that had occurred in the past
and one was of recent abuse, for example:

YQ49. Sexual assault – just need to talk?

i was sexually assulted twice in my lifetime the first time i was 6 and it was by my uncle
he was on top of me mum & dad got home just in time i think so it was disturbed
thank-god but mum & dad let him move in not long after, the condition – not to be
left alone with me the second time i was 12 1/2 delivered lollies for cystic fiborsis the
‘‘boss’’ took advantage of the fact i was young and he properly assulted me for 12
months then i built up the courage to eventually quit i eventually told the parents &
they took me to the police i was very scared cause he said he would hurt me, i filed a
police report just b4 court date i cancelled it i just didnt want to see him i can still see

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

806 Qualitative Social Work 12(6)

his face, mum called me a lier & just made me feel more **** than b4 not long after
that i ran away for nearly 2 years & was pretty nasty to her throu letters i eventually
went home but our relationship has never been good recently it has all been very
frequent in the mind i am now 28 and live in Australia . . .

Askers also often recounted their past help-seeking behaviour. Over half of
the 31 Askers detailed how they have been unsuccessful in finding help elsewhere,
eleven of these detailed how they had been unable to find help from informal
sources (friends, family members) and seven from formal sources such as police
and counsellors and one from the Yahoo! Answers community. Some Askers
recounted how they had disclosed or partially disclosed and not felt supported
and some had not disclosed at all through fear of being stigmatized or left unsup-
ported. Often survivors who felt their disclosure to close friends or family members
had gone unacknowledged expressed desperation in not knowing where to turn
next, for example:

YQ08 . . . I don’t know what to do. Anyone got any advice? I can’t talk to my mum
because she won’t listen, and I have no friends, dad isn’t in the picture he died, and no
councillor I was seeing one but I cant anymore because other reasons and it wasn’t
working anyway . . .

There were 17 instances where Askers recounted receiving help as a result of

disclosing, six of these were Askers thanking the Yahoo! Answers community for
their comments, refer to Table 2 below for details.

Partners in the ‘dance’ – respondents

The other partner in the ‘dance of disclosure’ is the confidant. In daily life this can
be a close friend, relative or counsellor, however in this forum it is those who post
an answer to the online question. There were a total of 205 responses to the 31 self-
disclosing questions with most questions receiving five to six answers. Overall,
46 answers expressed sympathy for the Askers’ plight. Many of these validated
the mixed emotions expressed by the Asker, some congratulated him/her for dis-
closing, whilst others blamed the perpetrator, such as:

YA26. i’m so sorry this is happening and has happened to you. it doesn’t seem right or
fair ..... i applaud you for your courage.

Forty-four responses provided general advice, such as encouraging the Asker to

view the incidents as sexual assault, and to name it as such, for example:

YA51. Did I overreact? Listen to this: NO YOU DID NOT . . . Or was I leading him
on? ‘Leading on’ does not justify sexual assault or rape. Many controlling men use this
excuse to win over the jury, but it is simply not true.

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

 Table 2. Help found and not found.

Help Sought No. Example

Help Not Found Informal (total 11) Partner 2 YQ09. I was raped by a classmate when I told my partner he got
upset & told me that he does not want to hear things like
that again. So we have not talked about it since he left me
Moors and Webber

crying on the phone I’m suffering & have nightmares

I don’t know what to do. . . Help?
Family members 8 YQ24. My mum knows about what happend but nothing has
changed she hasnt even asked if im okay all she said
was that i was stupid for going out.
Friends 1 YQ05. And i reallt dont have friends becuase i move schools
like every year. i was talking to someone but it got to
yeah i couldnt talk about it so i am dealing on my own
Formal (total 7) Doctor/Medical 2 YQ05. i am underage for doctors and everything
Counsellor 2 YQ24. I dont do the counceler thing becuase they tell my mum
everything
2 Police .2 YQ26. Also forgot to mention that the police aren’t investigating
anymore now they{police say}it’s he say’s she says. . .
Teacher 1 YQ44. . . .deputy swept it under the carpet. I also told my class
teacher; but she pretty much ignored it.
Online (total 1) Yahoo! Answers 1 YQ31. You are so rude. I was RAPED and you show no

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

compassion.
Help Found Informal (total 8) Partner 4 YQ16. . . . he has always been a shoulder to cry on and listens to
me, I was sexually abused years ago by a family member
and next week he is trying to organise a counsellor for
me, and he has written up paperwork of my goal list for
my life for me to feel out. . ..
(continued)
807
 808

Table 2. Continued.

Help Sought No. Example

Family members 2 YQ44. Mum was good in coming with me to report it. . .
Friends 2 YQ31. My friends say I should call the police.
Formal (total 3) Counsellor 2 YQ31. My therapist says that just because skin didn’t touch skin
it doesn’t make it any less traumatic. I agree with her.
Police 1 YQ52. I went to the police station yesterday morning to discuss
more about this and they called him in and he ended up
admitting everything!! I’m so relieved:)
Online help Yahoo! 6 YQ22. This answer fully answers the question I asked. Not only
(total 6) Answers that, it shows that not all guys are like my boyfriend and
Respondent don’t believe that his opinions regarding his behaviour are
at all good nor are they correct.

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

Qualitative Social Work 12(6)
Moors and Webber 809

Over half the responses (118) urged the Asker to take some kind of action, of
these, 44 recommended the survivor seek counselling, 27 urged them to report the
matter to police or another legal authority, 24 recommended they make informal
disclosures to a teacher, parent or friend and 23 urged them to take some other type
of action, such as: ‘The best thing to do is leave while he’s at work’ (YA11).4 Self-
disclosing questions also more often received self-disclosing answers. Of the
15 answers disclosing personal information, 10 were in response to self-disclosing
questions and another four were to claims of sexual assault happening to an
Asker’s friend or family member. As in face-to-face conversations, this mutual
self-disclosure operated as a way to ‘normalize the situation’ and relate to the
Asker’s emotional state, for example:

YQ24. Sexual assault recovering alone?

I was sexualy assaulted a couple months ago. im 17 at the start i was or thought i was
okay. becuase i was talking to a teacher about it and she was helping me and every-
thing i havent and probley wont see her for ages . . . But the last couple weeks i havnt
slept and am not coping it was a stranger rape i feel depressed and alone and basacly
not coping at all. I dont do the counceler thing becuase they tell my mum
everything . . .. . .

YA24. I was raped when I was nine by my 20 year old cousin. I still have night-
mares about it and I don’t trust anybody. I’m now 14 and it eats me alive
because nobody knows. Good thing you told your teacher. I’m so sorry you had
to go through that, you didn’t deserve that. Get some therapy please! It will help
it long run.

Not all response were supportive however, there were 30 negative comments,
12 of which were admonishing in tone, for example:

YA11. I can’t believe how you have stayed with an abusive husband so long. Just the
idea that you are seriously asking this question is scary.

Another nine comments made light of the situation, for example:

Ya49. Move on . . . my friend. . . . . . this world is never fair. . . . . . . . . and the rc religion
is a sham. . . . . .

A further nine responses doubted the legitimacy of the question and trivialized
the incident, for example:

YA31ii. You GOTTA be shittin’ me.. Even being 12 wouldn’t excuse this kind of
spineless blubbering. Virtual rape. I’ve heard it all now, I guess. Gotta be a troll. But
I’m never completely sure around this place.

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

810 Qualitative Social Work 12(6)

YA31vi. We are talking about a video game right? A video game? And you had to see
your therapist over it? That was a good one. Almost had me going.

It is particularly concerning that these nine negative comments were in response

to one question, about ‘virtual rape’ in an online game. The respondents did not
believe the incident had occurred and if it had, that the victim would find it dis-
tressing, and so accused the Asker of ‘trolling’.5 Although this question did receive
five supportive responses the effect of so many unbelieving, negative comments
could be very damaging to the Asker.

Learning the steps to the ‘dance’ – discussion

Common elements of online disclosure and response were identified in this study and
given the title the ‘dance of disclosure’. No classifications of self-disclosure, verbal or
otherwise, were found in the literature, however from this study four main types of
survivor disclosure, were identified and termed ‘naming’, ‘emoting’, ‘unburdening’
and help ‘seeking’. Many Askers experienced difficulty ‘naming’ or labelling the
incident as sexual assault and doubted themselves instead. This was particularly
true in this study for survivors who had been abused under the age of puberty.
Studies indicate that those who do disclose, turn initially to informal networks
such as family and friends (Ahrens et al., 2007; Fisher et al., 2003) and if they receive
a negative response they are reluctant to disclose further (Ullman, 2011). This
research adds to this by finding that now, some who find their outer-world disclo-
sures stymied (by disbelief or lack of empathy for example) may turn to anonymous
web-forums to disclose. In this study, those who had been abused by someone close
to them in the past (over two years ago) when they were under the age of puberty,
were the most reluctant to contact social workers or other formal support providers
and some were instead turning to anonymous online forums to disclose. This finding
supports the literature that this highly vulnerable group, those who have been
assaulted as a child by someone close, tend to significantly and in some cases indef-
initely delay disclosure and help-seeking (Arata, 1998; Hebert et al., 2009; Karjane
et al., 2002; Smith et al., 2000; Ullman, 1999, 2002; Vic Health, 2004).
A second element of the ‘dance of disclosure’ was those emotions expressed, and
those left unexpressed by the Asker. Literature on sexual assault disclosure, docu-
ments a complex web of emotions experienced by the survivor (Quadara, 2008;
Staller and Nelson-Gardell, 2005; Ungar et al., 2009). Questions posted by Askers
in this study illustrated many of these, with internalized emotions such as shame,
guilt and fear articulated much more frequently than externalized emotions such as
anger. A third aspect of the dance was the circuitous nature of these written disclos-
ures. A significant number of Askers seemed to treat this forum like a confessional,
‘unburdening’ themselves through writing. Concurrent with Frazier’s conclusion that
victims seek support rather than advice when disclosing (Frazier and Burnett, 1994)
the asking of an actual ‘question’ appeared almost incidental to many of their posts.
Fourthly, Askers recounted a significant amount of help-seeking behaviour prior to

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

Moors and Webber 811

accessing the online forum. It was often those people who had received negative
responses to informal disclosures made to close friends and family members who
sought help via this online forum. Many expressed feeling they had ‘nowhere else to
turn’. Overall the cyclical nature of disclosure as theorized by Staller and Nelson-
Gardell (2005) was evidenced in these online stories as Askers moved back and
forward through these four phases and ‘danced around’ the issue of assault.
In analysis, Ahrens’ (2007, 2009)6 categories were modified to suit an online
environment. In this study the ‘partners’ in the ‘dance of disclosure’ were the
respondents who provided feedback in the form of ‘Answers’. An online category
of sympathy was identified that encompassed Ahrens’ ‘empathetic’ and ‘supportive’
groups and the chief way of offering ‘tangible aid’ in an online environment was by
‘advising’. Ahrens’ negative categories of ‘blaming’, ‘doubting’ and being ‘generally
unsupportive’ were also mirrored in the data. But the ‘cold and detached’ and
‘refusing to help’ groups were not identified in this online environment as disclos-
ures were made to a host of anonymous forum members who could simply choose
not to respond to the question. These categories of online disclosure and response
could form the basis for further research into the area of online self-disclosure. This
research also supports Ahrens’ (2009) finding that respondents attempt to normal-
ize the situation by sharing their own stories of assault with the victim.
Do survivors gain support in an online environment? Although the majority of
answers in this forum were overwhelming supportive and empathetic, some nega-
tive comments were made (nearly a third of which were in response to one self-
disclosing question). Negative feedback has a clearly documented detrimental effect
on survivors’ well-being (Ahrens et al., 2009, 2010; Schwartz and Leggett, 1999;
Sudderth, 1998; Ullman, 2002, 2011). It is not known if the effects of negative
comments online from strangers are as deleterious to survivors as verbal comments
from people they know, however keeping in mind that survivors can be particularly
sensitive to feedback (Schwartz and DeKeseredy, 1997) these comments could have
a serious effect on their willingness to disclose further, especially if they thought the
online forum was the last place they could turn for support. It is positive that a
group who have not found support through traditional channels are finding a new
avenue of help, however the lack of supervision of this site by trained professionals
is of concern as exploitation and victimization of the vulnerable by internet preda-
tors is known to occur online (Dombrowski et al., 2007; Wolak et al., 2006).
Further research could be conducted into the effect of negative online comments
on people disclosing sensitive information.
Sexual assault centres have been aware for some time that there are a significant
number of victims who will not make contact with social workers or other formal
support providers in a traditional face-to-face manner. Supported by new technol-
ogy, some centres are developing new ways to reach these survivors, such as online
counselling7 and online question and answer message boards.8 Although the phe-
nomenon of online question and answer forums is fairly new, already one sexual
assault counselling centre9 has contacted Yahoo! Answers to discuss founding an
official online presence. However, in the case of demand pre-empting technology,

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

812 Qualitative Social Work 12(6)

Yahoo! Answers does not yet cater for registration of organizations. Therefore,
informal work is being done by dedicated counsellors as individuals to monitor
some of these sites and suggest recognized avenues of support to those disclosing
online. It is heartening that a small number of sexual assault counselling centres
have expanded their outreach facilities to include a presence, even informally, on
these online environments. We hope this article encourages counselling centres to
continue devising new ways to extend their service delivery modes to assist those
who are reluctant to access traditional sexual assault counselling.

Conclusion and reflection

We know from the literature that disclosure of sexual assault can take a long time,
if at all and is mediated by a host of factors such as how close the survivor was to
the perpetrator, their age of victimization, their emotional state and concerns
regarding confidentiality. This article fills a lacuna in the literature as little research
has been done in the area of disclosure and response to sensitive personal material
online. We found a small but significant group disclosing sexual assault online,
often years after the incident and often after a number of failed attempts to gain
formal or informal support elsewhere. Four types of online self-disclosure were
identified: ‘naming’ the incident as sexual assault, ‘unburdening’ or recounting
ones’ story, expressing emotions (‘emoting’) and ‘help-seeking’. These were com-
pared and contrasted to types of verbal self-disclosure identified in the literature.
Categories of positive and negative verbal response to disclosure found in the
literature were also compared to, and modified to suit, those found online. The
former were ‘sympathising’, ‘advising’, ‘urging’ the Asker to take action and ‘nor-
malizing’, and the latter ‘admonishing’, being ‘generally unsupportive’ and
‘doubting’ the story. Both survivors and respondents weaved back and forth
through these behaviours, in what was termed the ‘dance of disclosure’.
Online self-disclosure of sensitive topics is an under-researched area and the
categories constructed here could form the basis of further investigation into self-
disclosure and response in online environments. This study also identified a particu-
larly vulnerable group as most likely to self-disclosure in online forums; survivors
who had been abused by people close to them (friends, family members or partners)
in the past (over two years ago) who were often under the age of puberty when the
abuse occurred. These forums may be an effective way to elicit a range of opinions.
However, some did receive negative feedback and disclosure of sensitive topics can
leave the Asker vulnerable to internet predators. Counselling centres are aware of a
large proportion of victims who simply will not contact them via traditional methods
and are developing new ways to reach out to this vulnerable group. This article
shows the importance of this work and hopefully encourages the development of
further innovative methods to reach and provide support to survivors.
The use of online data for research of this type is in its infancy. It was found to
be particularly useful in examining this sensitive topic and yielded surprisingly rich
data, the disinhibiting effect of the internet (refer Suler, 2004) was evident in the

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

Moors and Webber 813

disclosing behaviour of both Askers and Respondents. In reflection, it would have

been advantageous to draw upon a larger, international sample as most users did
not ask for country-specific information but sought general emotional support.

Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial,
or not-for-profit sectors.

Acknowledgement
The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of South Eastern Centre Against
Sexual Assault (SECASA) for ongoing research collaboration in this area of research.

Notes
1. Yahoo! Answers: http://answers.yahoo.com/
2. An ‘Asker’ is the term we have assigned to the person asking the question in the online forum.
3. ‘In computing, an ‘‘avatar’’ is the graphical representation of the user or the user’s alter
ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual
worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online com-
munities. It is an object representing the user.’ (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Avatar_(computing); retrieved 17 December 2011).
4. Note this totals 127 as some answers urge more than one type of action in the same response.
5. The definition of a ‘troll’ according to Wikipedia is ‘someone who posts inflammatory,
extraneous or off-topic messages in an online community . . . with the primary intent of
provoking readers into an emotional response. . .the noun ‘‘troll’’ may also refer to the
provocative message itself.’ from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_Internet; retrieved
12 December 2011.
6. Note: the categories identified by Ahrens related to responses from both informal and
formal support providers, in this forum all responses were classified as informal support
providers, as no respondent specifically stated they were answering on behalf of a par-
ticular professional organization.
7. For example the New South Wales Rape Crisis Centre in Australia (www.nswrapecri-
sis.com.au) and RAINN in the USA (www.rainn.org).
8. Such as Somazone (www.somazone.com.au).
9. South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault (www.secasa.com.au).

References
Acierno R, Resnick H, Kilpatrick DG, Saunders B and Best CL (1999) Risk factors for
rape, physical assault, and post-traumatic stress disorder in women: Examination of
differential multivariate relationships. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 13: 541–563.
Ahrens CE, Campbell R, Ternier-Thames NK, Wasco SM and Sefl T (2007) Deciding whom
to tell: Expectations and outcomes of rape survivors’ first disclosures. Psychology of
Women Quarterly 31: 38–49.
Ahrens CE, Cabral G and Abeling S (2009) Healing or hurtful: Sexual assault survivors’
interpretations of social reactions from support providers. Psychology of Women
Quarterly 33: 81–94.

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

814 Qualitative Social Work 12(6)

Ahrens CE, Stansell J and Jennings A (2010) To tell or not to tell: The impact of disclosure
on sexual assault survivors’ recovery. Violence and Victims 25: 631–648.
Arata CM (1998) To tell or not to tell: Current functioning of child sexual abuse survivors
who disclosed their victimization. Child Maltreatment 3(1): 63–71.
Briere JN and Elliott DM (1994) Immediate and long-term impacts of child sexual abuse.
The Future of Children 4: 54–69.
Dombrowski SC, Gischlar KL and Durst T (2007) Safeguarding young people from cyber
pornography and cyber sexual predation: A major dilemma of the internet. Child Abuse
Review 16: 153–170.
Feldhaus K, Houry D and Kaminsky R (2000) Lifetime sexual assault prevalence rates and
reporting practices in an emergency department population. Annals of Emergency
Medicine 36: 23–27.
Fisher BS, Daigle LE, Cullen FT and Turner MG (2003) Reporting sexual victimization to
the police and others: Results from a national-level study of college women. Criminal
Justice and Behavior 30: 6–38.
Fortier MA, DiLillo D, Messman-Moore TL, Peugh J, DeNardi K and Gaffey KJ (2009)
Severity of child sexual abuse and revictimization: The mediating role of coping and
trauma symptoms. Psychology of Women Quarterly 33: 308–320.
Frazier PA and Burnett JW (1994) Immediate coping strategies among rape victims. Journal
of Counseling and Development 72: 633–639.
Gold SN, Ketchman SA, Zucker I, Cott MA and Sellers AH (2008) Relationship between
dissociative and medically unexplained symptoms in men and women reporting child-
hood sexual abuse. Journal of Family Violence 23: 569–575.
Golding JM, Siegel JM, Sorenson SB, Burnam AM and Stein JA (1989) Social support
sources following sexual assault. Journal of Community Psychology 17: 92–107.
Hebert M, Tourigny M, Mireille C, McDuff P and Joly J (2009) Prevalence of childhood
sexual abuse and timing of disclosure in a representative sample of adults from Quebec
(Brief Communication). Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 54(9): 631–636.
James AM (2007) Principles of youth participation in mental health services. Consumer
Perspectives 187: 57–60.
Jonzon E and Lindblad F (2004) Disclosure reactions and social support: Findings from a
sample of adult victims of child sexual abuse. Child Maltreatment 9: 190–200.
Karjane HM, Fisher BS and Cullen FT (2002) Campus Sexual Assault: How America’s
Institutions of Higher Education Respond. Final Report. Newton, MA: Education
Development Centre Inc.
Kelly L and Radford J (1990) ‘Nothing really happened’: The invalidation of women’s
experiences of sexual violence. Critical Social Policy 10: 39–53.
Koss MP (1985) The hidden rape victim: Personality, attitudinal and situational character-
istics. Psychology of Women Quarterly 9: 193–212.
Lievore D (2003) Non-Reporting and Hidden Recording of Sexual Assault in Australia.
Report, Australian Institute of Criminology, 12.
Nevala S (2005) International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS). Division for the
Advancement of Women (ed). Geneva: European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control.
Osborne J (1990) Some basic existential-phenomenological research methodology for coun-
sellors. Canadian Journal of Counselling 24: 79–91.
Payne BK, Button D and Rapp L (2008) Challenges to doing sexual violence work. Journal
of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma 17: 374–393.

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015

Moors and Webber 815

Quadara A (2008) Responding to young people disclosing sexual assault: A resource for
schools. ACASSA Wrap 6: 1–11.
Rickwood D, Deane FP, Wilson CJ and Ciarrochi J (2005) Young people’s help-seeking for
mental health problems. Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health 4: 1–34.
Rothbaum BO, Foa EB, Riggs DS, Murdock T and Walsh W (1992) A prospective examination
of post-traumatic stress disorder in rape victims. Journal of Traumatic Stress 5: 455–475.
Santello MD and Leitenberg H (1993) Sexual aggression by an acquaintance: Methods of
coping and later psychological adjustment. Violence and Victims 8: 91–103.
Schwartz MD and DeKeseredy WS (1997) Sexual assault on the college campus: The role of
male peer support. California: SAGE Publications.
Schwartz MD and Leggett MS (1999) Bad dates or emotional trauma? The aftermath of
campus sexual assault. Violence Against Women 5: 251–271.
Shroud DD (1999) Familial support as perceived by adult victims of child sexual abuse.
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment 11: 159–175.
Sinclair BB and Gold SR (1997) The psychological impact of withholding disclosure of child
sexual abuse. Violence and Victims 12: 137–145.
Smith DW, Letourneau EJ, Saunders BE, Kilpatrick D, Resnick HS and Best CL (2000)
Delay in disclosure of childhood rape: Results from a national survey. Child Abuse &
Neglect 24: 273–287.
Sorenson T and Snow B (1991) How children tell: The process of disclosure in child sexual
abuse. Child Welfare 70: 3–15.
Staller KM and Nelson-Gardell D (2005) ‘A burden in your heart’: Lessons of disclosure
from female preadolescent and adolescent survivors of sexual abuse. Child Abuse &
Neglect 1415–1432.
Sudderth LK (1998) ‘It’ll come right back at me’: The interactional context of discussing
rape with others. Violence Against Women 4: 572–594.
Suler J (2004) The online disinhibition effect. CyberPsychology & Behavior 7: 321–326.
Thorne S (2008) Interpretive Description. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
Thorne S, Kirkham S and MacDonald-Emes J (1998) Interpretive description: A noncate-
gorical qualitative alternative for developing nursing knowledge. Research in Nursing and
Health 20: 1969–1997.
Ullman SE (1999) Social support and recovery from sexual assault: A review. Aggression and
Violent Behavior 4: 343–358.
Ullman SE (2002) Social reactions to child sexual abuse disclosures: A critical review.
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 12(1): 89–120.
Ullman SE (2007) Relationship to perpetrator, disclosure, social reactions and PTSD symp-
toms in child sexual abuse survivors. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 16(1): 19–36.
Ullman SE (2011) Is disclosure of sexual traumas helpful? Comparing experimental laboratory
versus field study results. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma 20: 148–162.
Ullman SE and Filipas HH (2001) Correlates of formal and informal support seeking in
sexual assault victims. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 16: 1028–1047.
Ungar M, Tutty LM, McConnell S, Barter K and Fairholm J (2009) What Canadian youth
tell us about disclosing abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect 33: 699–708.
Vic Health (2004) The Health Costs of Violence, Measuring the Burden of Disease caused by
Intimate Partner Violence. Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, 40.
Wolak J, Mitchell K and Finkelhor D (2006) Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years
Later. New Hampshire: Crimes Against Children Research Centre, University of
New Hampshire, 79.

Downloaded from qsw.sagepub.com at University of Bucharest on May 20, 2015