Rape myth acceptance and rape acknowledgment: The mediating role of sexual refusal assertiveness

Abstract

Unacknowledged rape, defined as when an individual experiences an event that meets a legal or empirical definition of rape but the individual does not label it as such, is prevalent. Research examining predictors of rape acknowledgment is needed. Sexual assertiveness may be an important variable to consider, as an individual's typical behavior during sexual situations may influence rape acknowledgment. To assess the indirect effect of rape myth acceptance on rape acknowledgment through sexual refusal assertiveness, an online survey of 181 female rape survivors was conducted. The indirect effects of two types of rape myths (He didn’t mean to and Rape is a deviant event) were significant and positive. Specifically, acceptance of these two rape myths was negatively related to sexual refusal assertiveness, which was negatively associated with likelihood of rape acknowledgment. The results of this study indicate that sexual refusal assertiveness is associated with lower likelihood of rape acknowledgment among rape survivors. As a result, it appears that, under certain circumstances, women high in rape myth acceptance may be more likely to acknowledge rape when it results in decreased sexual refusal assertiveness.