Understanding sexual assault disclosure

Abstract

Getting a sexual assault examination, obtaining a sexual assault kit (SAK), making an official report, and continuing to engage with the criminal justice system require victims to repeatedly disclose their assault. Choosing to engage in these activities pre-supposes that personal, professional, and societal responses to victim disclosures are supportive and helpful. However, this has not always been the case. Consequently, many victims have declined to engage in one or more of these justice-oriented actions. In this chapter, long-standing barriers (i.e., widespread acceptance of rape myths, adherence to stereotypical sex and gender roles, and ongoing stigmatization of marginalized individuals) and emerging cultural factors (e.g., social movements like #MeToo and family justice centers) are described as informing victims' choices. These same factors influence recipient responses to disclosure. Existing models of the disclosure process are summarized. Finally, individual (identity, trauma reactions, case characteristics), professional recipient (e.g., knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of police officers, resident advisors, prosecutors), and organizational/system factors (e.g., Is this police department practicing trauma-informed practices and/or is there a history of institutional betrayal? Does this hospital have a trained sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE)?) are considered. We theorize that these multi-level factors work in concert to influence the decision to disclose, make a formal report, obtain a SAK, and/or engage and re-engage with the justice system. The resulting psychosocial model of victim decision-making is depicted in Figure 3.1. Overall, victim choices are made with the hope of receiving justice, preventing harm to others, facilitating self-healing and closure, keeping safe, and moving forward. The continued need for criminal justice reform to include the widespread adoption of trauma-informed responses to disclosure alongside the utilization of trauma-informed practices when working with sexual assault survivors is highlighted.