What are the impacts of sexual abuse?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sexual violence is common:

• Over half of women and almost one in three men have experienced sexual violence involving physical contact during their lifetimes. [1]
• One in four women and about one in 26 men have experienced completed or attempted rape. [1]
• One in three women and about one in nine men experienced sexual harassment in a public place. [1]

Sexual violence starts early:

• More than four in five female rape survivors reported that they were first raped before age 25, and almost half were first raped as a minor (i.e., before age 18). [1]

Sexual violence leads to devastating outcomes:

• Conservative estimates from 2017 put the lifetime cost of rape at $122,461 per survivor, including medical care, lost productivity from work, and criminal justice costs. [2]
• Some consequences are physical, like bruising and genital injuries, sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy (for women). Some consequences are psychological, such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. The consequences may be chronic. Survivors may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and experience recurring reproductive, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and sexual health problems.[3]
• Sexual violence is also linked to negative health behaviors. Sexual violence survivors are more likely to smoke, abuse alcohol, use drugs, and engage in risky sexual activity. [4]
• The trauma from sexual violence may impact a survivor's employment. This includes time off from work, diminished performance, job loss, or inability to work. These issues disrupt earning power and have a long-term effect on the economic well-being of survivors and their families. [3]
• Sexual violence is also connected to other forms of violence. For example, girls who have been sexually abused are more likely to experience additional sexual violence. They are also more likely to become victims of intimate partner violence in adulthood. Bullying perpetration in early middle school is linked to sexual harassment perpetration in high school. [5]

The CDC also notes that:

• Coping and completing everyday tasks after victimization can be challenging. Survivors may have difficulty maintaining personal relationships, returning to work or school, and regaining a sense of normalcy. [3] 

Study after study finds that the long-term impacts of sexual abuse are often invisible to others, but they lead to persistent suffering including: “a feeling of unbearable secrecy, threat and humiliation; disconnection of body and soul; great fear and constant insecurity; damaged self-image, self-accusation and guilt; experiencing being compelled to take full responsibility for the crime; as well as various physical and mental health problems, e.g., suicidal thoughts. In adulthood, the consequences are also multifaceted and varied, including vaginal problems, recurrent urinary tract infections, widespread and chronic pain, sleeping problems, chronic back problems, and fibromyalgia, eating disorders, social anxiety, severe depression, and chronic fatigue…sexual violence has these extremely negative and long-term consequences because of the interconnectedness of body, mind, and soul.” [6]

“The seriousness of the consequences makes a trauma-informed approach to services essential to support the healing and improved health and well-being of survivors.” [6]

This is why I created the Women in My Corner℠ practice. 

In my experience, abusers:

• Lie to victims and anyone who might be inclined to intervene
• Manipulate victims, both emotionally (e.g., with promises of love) and psychologically (e.g., with guilt)
• Exploit their authority or positions of power to take advantage of and assert control over their victims
• Trick victims into believing the abuse “isn’t that bad” or that victims misunderstood their intentions (gaslighting)
• Shame victims by convincing them they are “bad girls”
• Threaten victims with violence against them or their loved ones if they ever tell anyone
• Threaten to expose the victim’s “bad girl” behavior to others if she walks away
• Convince victims they are in control and somehow to blame for the abuse
• Give victims love, special attention, or gifts when they are not abusing them to trap them in the abuse cycle (e.g., intermittent reinforcement)
• Enlist others as enablers (aka useful idiots) who will deliberately look the other way, ensuring the secret is kept, while some enablers even help abusers carry out the abuse

When the abuse is repeated, and the victim is “trained’ (aka brainwashed or groomed) to tolerate escalating levels of abuse, it becomes a vicious cycle. The cycle itself is reinforcing and traps the victim physically and psychologically. The pendulum of violence swings between sexual violation and rewarding victims with special attention. Victims are conditioned to submit to the person with power over them. Over time, this can result in a victim who: 

• Doesn’t know who to trust, including herself
• Falls prey to manipulation from predators throughout her life
• Doesn’t believe she deserves to be treated with dignity or respect
• Doesn’t believe she is worthy of love
• Doesn’t know what her own body wants or needs
• Carries the emotional and psychological burdens of people in her life
• Lacks healthy boundaries
• Doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not
• Has learned to ignore red flags and override her gut
• Has trouble discerning whether a situation is dangerous or not

This is a brief list and it varies from person to person. Women in My Corner℠ understands intimately how these outcomes impact women and their trajectories from victims to women who are thriving. Learn more about the topics we cover in our coaching.

References

1. Basile KC, Smith SG, Kresnow M, Khatiwada S, & Leemis RW. (2022). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2016/2017 Report on Sexual Violence. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

2. Peterson C, DeGue S, Florence C, Lokey C. (2017). Lifetime Economic Burden of Rape in the United States. American Journal of Preventive  Medicine 52(6): 691-701.

3. Basile KC and Smith SG. (2011). Sexual Violence Victimization of Women: Prevalence, Characteristics, and the Role of Public Health and Prevention. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (5): 407-417.

4. Basile KC, Clayton HB, Rostad WL, & Leemis RW. (2020). Sexual violence victimization of youth and health risk behaviors. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 58(4), 570-579.

5. Espelage DL, Basile KC, Hamburger ME. (2012). Bullying perpetration and subsequent sexual violence perpetration among middle school students. Journal of Adolescent Health 50(1): 60-65.

6. Sigurdardottir S, Halldorsdottir S. (2021). Persistent suffering: The serious consequences of sexual violence against women and girls, their search for inner healing and the significance of the #MeToo movement. International Journal of Environmental Research in Public Health, 18(4): 1849.