Psychosocial Adjustment of Women Who were Sexually Victimized in Childhood or Adolescence

Abstract

As many as one third of all women have experienced sexual victimization as juveniles, and a range of emotional, inter-personal, and sexual problems appear to be frequent among these victims. On the current evidence, it is not possible to determine the extent to which these problems are a direct result of the exploitive sexual encounter or of other circumstances in the victims' lives. Nor can the incidence rates for various problems among victimized and non-victimized women be stated with any certainty, the samples on which estimates are made being biased and limited in many ways. Emotionally, the problems of guilt, low self-esteem, and depression, are extremely common among victims, especially those who seek treatment. The interpersonal relationships of many victims are characterized by feelings of isolation, alienation, and difference from other people, together with much mistrust and insecurity. There is some conflict of evidence over the prevalence of hostile or fearful attitudes towards men. Some victims do appear to avoid a lasting relationship with a man and many engage in a series of more transient and casual relationships. Prostitution also seems to be associated with sexual victimization in childhood. Among victims there appear to be tendencies to oversexualize all relationships with men, to engage repeatedly in ill-matched and punitive partnerships, and to exhibit a fear of intimacy. The evidence is contradictory on the incidence of homosexuality among women victims. Sexual problems, and more particularly sexual dysfunctions, appear to be more frequent among victimized compared to non-victimized women, The dysfunctions exhibited include lack of motivation, sexual phobias, vaginismus, impaired arousal, difficulty in reaching climax, dyspareunia, and sexual dissatisfaction. There is wide variation in adjustment between women victims, and among the factors that may contribute to these individual differences are the age of the child victim, the duration of the victimization, the nature of the sexual activity involve, and the perception of the woman concerning her feelings at the time of the victimization and its effects on her.