Andrea Love
ADJ/255
April 28, 2013
Charles Todd
I have decided to write my paper on the sexual assaults on woman. I plan on explaining that sexual assault on a woman is a very serious problem. There are many cases that are not reported on a yearly basis. I hope to bring to light the signs that a woman has been sexually assaulted and how a woman can cope with the problems that arise after and attack on them. I hope to bring knowledge of how a woman may view herself after an attack, the personal problems that arise and the social problems that show up after an attack. I also hope to bring to light that there are some false allegations of sexual assault but for the most part they are not false allegations. In the United States of America there are thought to be 17.7 million woman that have or will have a sexual assault on them during their life time (Margolin & Vickerman, 2009.) Out of the patients that have reported having been sexually assaulted and have been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder around 80% of those also meet the criteria for more psychological disorders (Margolin & Vickerman, 2009.) These disorders may include but are not limited to anxiety, substance abuse (e.g. alcohol, cigarettes, and illegal drugs,) and rape-related fears (staying home alone, fear of strangers) (Margolin & Vickerman, 2009.) The increased risk of substance abuse in sexual assault victims is 3-10 time greater than that of a person who has not been sexually assaulted (Margolin & Vickerman, 2009.) Even though most people have had depression episodes in their lives the chances of a major depressive episode in a victim of sexual assault is three time greater than that of a person who has not been a victim (Margolin & Vickerman, 2009.) These depressive episodes can lead to suicidal thoughts or attempts, estimated 33% of these victims have thought about suicide and 13% have attempted suicide (Margolin & Vickerman, 2009.)
References: Kimerling, Rachel; Calhoun, Karen (April 1994) Somatic Symptoms, Social Support, and Treatment Seeking Among Sexual Assault Victims. Journal of Consulting and ClinicalPsychology, Vol. 62(2), p. 333-340 Lisak, David; Gardinier, Lori; Nicksa, Sarah; Cote, Ashley (2010) False Allegations of Sexual Assault: An Analysis of Ten Years of Reported Cases. Violence Against Women, Vol. 16, p.1318-1336, doi: 10.1177/1077801210387747 Elliot, Diana; Mok, Doris; Brieve, John (2004) Adult Sexual Assault: Prevalance, Symptomatology, and Sex Differences in the General Population. Journal of Traumatic Stress, Vol 17(3), p. 203-211 Margolin, Gayla; Vickerman, Katherine (2009) Rape Treatment Outcome Research: Empirical Findings and State of the Literature. Clinical Psychology Review, Vol 29(5), p. 431-448 Lang, Ariel; Rodgers, Carie; Laffaye, Charlene; Satz,Lesie; Dreselhaus, Timothy; Stien, Murray (2003) Sexual Trauma, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Behavior. Behavioral Medicine, Vol 28(4), p.150-159