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Understanding Acquaintance Rape: Victim Impact and Recovery

Explore the various aspects of acquaintance rape, including victim behaviors, responses, impact, and recovery processes. Gain insights into reporting patterns, common victim behaviors, and differences between stranger and acquaintance rape. Learn about strategies for self-defense and victim responses during a rape.

JasminFlorian
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Understanding Acquaintance Rape: Victim Impact and Recovery

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  1. Appendix 5 Victim Impact

  2. ACQUAINTANCE RAPE:THE VICTIM Gail Abarbanel Director Rape Treatment Center Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center

  3. Issues in Acquaintance Rapes • Not common perception of rape • Not “real rape” • Context/social situation • Relationship • Attributions of blame • Assignment of responsibility

  4. Acquaintance Rape: Questions About the Victim • Lifestyle • Behavior • Judgment • Motivation

  5. Victim/Offender RelationshipSource: Bureau of Justice Statistics • 82% acquaintances • 18% strangers

  6. Number of Rapes ReportedSource: FBI Uniform Crime Report • Once every 5 minutes • 12 cases/hour • 100,000 cases/year

  7. Number of Rapes CommittedSource: Rape In America • More than once every minute • 78 cases/hour • 683,000 cases/year

  8. Age of VictimsSource: Rape In America • 29% < 11 years old • 32% 11-17 years old • 23% 18-24 years old • 7 % 25-29 years old • 6% > 29 years old • 3% unknown

  9. Male Victims • 5% of reported rapes • Underreported •  physical violence •  acquaintance rapes

  10. In the Rape in America study, only 16% of the victims reported their rapes to the police.

  11. Reporting Patterns • Stranger rape  reporting • Acquaintance rape  reporting

  12. Reasons for Late/No Reporting • Fear of retaliation • Being blamed/disbelieved • Loss of privacy • Distrust of legal system • Shame and embarrassment • Not defining experience as rape • Denial and suppression of feelings • Psychogenic or drug-induced amnesia

  13. Common Victim Behaviors • Non-resistance • Passive behavior • Failure to attempt to escape • Friendly behavior towards assailant • Delayed reporting • Calm, non-emotional appearance • Gaps in memory

  14. Differences Between Stranger and Acquaintance Rape • Stranger Rape • “Blitz Attack” • Acquaintance Rape • “Confidence Rape”

  15. Types of Coercion • Weapons • Threats to harm victim • Threats to harm significant others • Restraints • Physical Violence • Incapacitating drugs

  16. Acquaintance Rape:Gaining Access to the Victim • Offers assistance to victim • Requests victim’s help • Invites social relationship • Promises possibility of employment/career opportunity • Requests company while completing a task

  17. Strategies for Self-Defense • Cognitive assessment • Verbal tactics • Screaming • Attempting to escape • Stalling for time • Physical resistance

  18. Victim Responses During a Rape • Non-resistance • Frozen fright • Dissociation

  19. Dissociation During a Traumatic Event • Altered time sense • Feelings of unreality that event is occurring • Derealization (altered perception of external world) • Depersonalization (altered sense of self) • Out-of-body experience • Confusion, disorientation • Feeling disconnected from one’s body

  20. Impact of Sexual Assault on the Victim • Rape Trauma • Sexual Trauma • Acute Stress Disorder • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

  21. Post-Assault Behaviors • Responses contrary to expectations • Oscillation

  22. Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) Development of anxiety, dissociative, and other symptoms within one month after exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor

  23. ASD Criteria: Witness/Experience Traumatic Event in House • Response includes: • Fear • Helplessness • Horror

  24. ASD Symptoms • Dissociative • Reexperiencing • Avoidance and numbing • Anxiety/increased arousal

  25. ASD: Dissociative Symptoms • During or after the trauma: • Numbness • Detachment • Absence of emotional responsiveness • Reduced awareness of surroundings • Derealization • Depersonalization • Dissociative amnesia

  26. ASD: Reexperiencing Symptoms • Persistent reexperiencing of the trauma: • Images • Thoughts • Dreams • Flashbacks • Sense of reliving the trauma • Distress when exposed to reminders of trauma

  27. ASD: Avoidance Symptoms • Avoidance of stimuli that arouse recollections of the trauma: • Thoughts • Feelings • Conversations • Activities • Places • People

  28. ASD: Anxiety Symptoms • Marked symptoms of anxiety or increased arousal: • Difficulty Sleeping • Irritability • Problems with concentration • Hypervigilance • Startle response • Motor restlessness

  29. ASD: TIMING OF SYMPTOMS • Onset: within 4 weeks of trauma • Duration: 2 days to 4 weeks • Persistence: may indicate PTSD

  30. ASD: Diagnosis • Symptoms cause: • Significant distress • Functional impairment • Impairment in ability to pursue necessary tasks

  31. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD): Criteria • Exposure to traumatic event which involves: • Actual or threatened death or serious injury • Threat to victim’s physical integrity or safety of a significant other

  32. PTSD Criteria: Exposure/Response • Response to traumatic event involves intense: • Fear • Helplessness • Horror

  33. PTSD Symptoms • Intrusive re-experiencing • Avoidance • Arousal

  34. PTSD Criteria: Diagnosis • Duration of symptoms > one month • Significant distress • Functional impairment

  35. PTSD Criteria: Reexperiencing • Persistent reexperiencing of the trauma: • Recurrent thoughts • Distressing dreams • Acting or feeling as if trauma re-occurring • Extreme distress when exposed to things that resemble or symbolize the trauma.

  36. PTSD Criteria: Avoidance and Numbing • Avoidance of people/situations associated with trauma • AND • Numbing or reduced responsiveness: • Diminished interest or participation in significant activities; • Inability to recall important aspect of the trauma; • Feeling detached or estranged from others; • Restricted range of affect; and or • Sense of a foreshortened future.

  37. PTSD Criteria: Increased Arousal • Sleep disturbances • Irritability • Difficulty with concentration • Hypervigilance • Exaggerated startle response

  38. Other Symptoms of Rape Trauma • Self-blame • Guilt • Shame • Depressed mood • Sexual dysfunction • Somatic complaints • Loss or self-confidence and self-esteem • Changes in assumption about self, others, and world

  39. Health Impact of Rape:Immediate Aftermath • Acute physical injuries • Psychological trauma • Risk of STDs • Risk of unwanted pregnancy

  40. Health Impact of Rape:Psychological Sequelae • ASD/PTSD • Anxiety • Depression • Suicidality • Substance use/abuse • Sexual problems

  41. Health Impact of Rape:Physical Sequelae • Utilization of medical services • Poorer health perceptions • Negative health behaviors • Somatic symptoms • Chronic medical conditions

  42. Health Impact of Rape:Physical Symptoms • Somatic complaints • Stomach aches/nausea • Headaches • Back pain • Chronic medical conditions • GI symptoms • Pelvic pain • Menstrual symptoms

  43. Factors That May Affect Responseto Trauma • Cultural differences • Life-stage and developmental issues • Mental or physical disabilities • Previous victimization experiences • Response of service providers • Social supports

  44. Educating the Jury • Resistance • Reporting • Affect and demeanor • Recall of details • Medical findings

  45. The Prosecutor’s Task • Victim’s lifestyle • Victim’s behavior • Victim’s judgment • Societal beliefs • Defendant’s behaviors

  46. Is It Consent? • Going to certain locations • Engaging in certain activities • Giving sexual consent on one occasion • Allowing man to pay for date • Dressing in revealing clothing

  47. Going to Court:Common Victim Concerns • Loss of privacy • “Being raped again” • Confronting rapist • Delays/continuances • Unknown/unfamiliar • High-profile cases • Outcome/results

  48. Interviewing Victims • Goals of initial interview • Setting/structure • Principles/techniques • Preparing victim for process • Ongoing support

  49. Goals of Initial Interview • Establish rapport/relationship • Gather reliable information • Assess strengths/weaknesses of case • Involve victim in process • Prepare victim for process

  50. Interview Setting/Structure • Privacy • No interruptions • Non-verbal language • Presence of support person(s) • Time allocation

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