An Assessment of the Life Experiences of Women Who are Survivors of Sexual Abuse in Zengeza Community Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe.

Abstract

This paper assesses the life experiences of women who are survivors of sexual abuse in Zengeza community of Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe. It seeks to explore the experiences of survivors of sexual abuse and how the survivors are coping. A Phenomenological research design was adopted to allow the researchers to know about the subjective, life experiences of the female survivors of sexual abuse without focusing on specific answers. The target population comprised of 20 female survivors of sexual abuse to avoid biased information and participants were recruited using purposive sampling technique, by selecting individuals who are living as survivors of sexual abuse. The findings from this study strongly indicated that survivors of sexual abuse are going through a lot of emotional and psychological distress, with their physical health affected as well. The article extensively explores the intricate and multifaceted challenges faced by the survivors of sexual abuse and the possible coping mechanisms that they may employ. The researchers recommended that it is of paramount importance for the healthcare system to acknowledge what the survivors of sexual abuse are going through and to provide possible ways to curb the challenges that they are facing.