Sexual_Violence

Sexual Violence Introduction Sexual violence is a social, clinical and public health problem of the world that is not report even half of the time (CDC, 2011, Moran, 2008). The health and safety of women in the United Sates are threaten by sexual violence (Weitauf, Frayne, Finney, Moos, Jones, Hu & Spiegel, 2010). Most people may think that sexual violence is only committed by a stranger that lurks around in the dark jumping out of the shadows attacking someone. Sexual violence against women is most common. According to, Allsworth, Anand, Redding and Peipert (2009), approximately 25% of women have experienced some type of physical, sexual, or emotional violence during their lifetime. Unfortunately, most people who are victims of sexual violence know their attacker. Sexual violence could be perpetrated by a stranger, girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, spouse, ex-spouse, friend or even an acquaintance. According to the National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, there are over 76% of women assaulted sexually were attacked by some that they had dated, lived with or even married to currently or in the past. The writer of this paper choose the topic “Sexual Violence” because when the writer was 15 years old the writer became a victim of sexual violence her boyfriend. The writer also experienced physical & verbal abuse during the sexual violence. Not knowing any better the writer did not report what happened to anyone. The writer held on to this horrifying experience for a very long time thinking that it was her fault. It took almost 12 years before the writer realized that it was not her fault. The purpose of this paper is to explore the topic of sexual violence. Sexual violence is defined by the Center for Disease and Prevention (CDC) as “any sexual act that is perpetrated against someone’s will” (CDC, 2011). Sexual violence ranges from a complete non-consensual sex act, an attempted non-consensual sex act, abusive sexual contact and sexual abuse without contact (CDC, 2011). The victims involved in these acts do not consent or cannot refuse to allow the act to happen (CDC, 2011). Scope and Nature of the Issue According to the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS), more than 232,960 victims of sexual violence are women and this number includes unreported cases. Many victims of sexual violence do not report it especially men. According to Laisser, Lugina, Lindmark, Nystrom & Emmelin (2009) five times more women than men are victims of sexual violence. Any man or woman can be a victim of sexual violence such as date rape, sexual assault or rape, but with women in college date rape is a big issue and some do report the incident (Gonzalez-Rosa, 2010). Victims with a history of this type of violence seem to experience major injuries than victims who have only had been abused one time (Krieger, 2008). According to Allsworth et al. (2009), women who have a history of violence are at higher risk for sexually transmitted infections (STI’s), and at a higher risk of heart disease and stroke. The sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk increases because male attackers may have numerous sexual partners and do not use condoms with any of their partners (Allsworth et al., 2009). Sexual violence has many affects on females and males no matter the age, education, race, economic status or culture (Krieger, 2008). There were four groups that ranked the highest in intimate partner violence such as sexual and physical violence and include American Indians, Alaskan native women and men, black and Hispanic women (Krieger, 2008). This also includes gay & lesbian relationships along with members of the family. Violence of this type is not easily noticed, often done in private, and not reported because of shame and a fear of what family and friends may say or do (Krieger, 2008). Victims of sexual violence can go unnoticed for so long that death is when someone notices what has been going on. More females than males die from the violence and the higher numbers in the past were by spouses but now the higher deaths related to sexual or intimate partner violence are by a girlfriend or boyfriend (Krieger, 2008). Boyfriends were killed by girlfriends with knives and spouses and ex-spouses were killed by guns (Krieger, 2008). Victims have the feelings of being betrayed by their attacker or even that they provoked the act against them. Sexual violence can cause a victim physical, emotional & psychological problems ( ). These problems vary from one victim to another (Gonzalez-Rosa, 2010). There is an outward stage for victims of sexual violence the usually starts two to three weeks after the sexual violence has occurred and can begin once the victim truly starts processing their life and start dealing with the trauma of the rape (Gonzalez-Rosa, 2010). Sexual violence leaves lasting scars on the victim’s life, especially if the victim went willingly with their attacker to have a drink or for a walk along the beach (Gonzalez-Rosa, 2010). Sexual violence survivors develop health problems such as rape trauma syndrome, post traumatic stress disorder, social phobias, drug use and suicidal behaviors (Gonzalez-Rosa, 2010). Some of these problems could be acute or long term (Gonzalez-Rosa, 2010, CDC, 2008). There are many types of physical harm that a victim can endure, such as broken bones, cuts, bruises being exposed to diseases that can be contracted during sex and unwanted pregnancy. Also, these victims can develop premenstrual syndrome, back pain, facial pain, chronic pelvic pain, nausea, eating disorders, migraines and gynecological issues, chronic pain syndrome, gastrointestinal disorders, and substance abuse (Chang, Dado, Hawker, Cluss, Buranosky, Slagel. McNeil, & Hudson Scholle, 2010, ). These long term consequences can be frequent and cause the victim to be disable where they are unable work ever again (Gonzalez-Rosa, 2010). The emotional issues could include shame, rage, embarrassment, insecurities, guilt, fear of being attacked again, hopelessness and even the desire for revenge (Gonzalez-Rosa, 2010, CDC, 2008). Depression and even nightmares could be a long term affect if the victim does not seek treatment after the incident (Gonzalez-Rosa, 2010). References Allsworth, J. E., Anand, M., Redding, C. A., & Peipert, J. (2009). Physical and Sexual Violence and Incident Sexually Transmitted Infections. Journal of Women’s Health, 18 (4), 529-534. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2007.075 Bonomi, A. E., Anderson, M. L., Rivara, F. P., & Thompsom, R. S. (2007). Health outcomes in women with physical and sexual intimate partner violence exposure. Journal of Women’s Health, 16 (7), 987-997. doi:10.1089/jwh.206.0239 Chang, J. C., Dado, D., Hawker, L., Cluss, P. A., Buranosky, R., Slagel, L., McNeil, M., & Husdon Scholle, S. (2010). Understanding turning points in intimate partner violence: Factors and circumstances leading women victims toward change. Journal of Woman’s Health, 19 (2), 251-259. doi:10.1089/jwh.2009.1568 Sexual violence definitions. Retrieved May 11, 2011 from Center for Disease and Prevention website. http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/sexualviolence/definitions.html Gonzalez-Rosa, N. (2010). A rape by any other name…The truth and consequences of “Date Rape”. Journal of Women’s Health, 40-46. Hanson, M. J. (2010). Health behavior in adolescent women reporting and not reporting intimate partner violence. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nurses, 39 (4), 263-276. doi:10.1111/j.1552-6909.2010.01138.x Krieger, C. L. (2008). Intimate partner violence: A review for nurses. Nursing for Women’s Health, 12 (3), 226-234. Moran, B. A. (2008). Intimate partner violence: The difference nurses can make. Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric & Neonatal Nurses 12 (3), 194-196. National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Retrieved May 11, 2011 from Department of Veterans Affairs website: http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/sexual-assault-females.asp Padden, M. L. (2008). Sexual Violence and the silent reaction to rape: Implications for nurses. Nursing for Women’s Health 12 (2), 106-113. Pollack, K. M., Austin, W. & Grisso, J. A. (2010). Employee assistance programs: A workplace resource to address intimate partner violence. Journal of Women’s Health, 19 (4), 729-733. doi:1.1089/jwh.2009.1495 Thomas, K. A., Sorenson, S. B., & Joshi, M. (2010). Police-documented incidents of intimate partner violence among young women. Journal of Women’s Health, 19 (6), 1079-1087. doi:10.1089/jwh.209.1612 Weitauf, J. C., Frayne, S. M., Finney, J. W., Moos, R. H., Jones, S., Hu, K., & Spiegel, D. (2010). Sexual violence, posttraumatic stress disorder, and the pelvic examination: How do beliefs about the safety, necessity, and utility of the examination influence Patient experiences' Journal of Women Health 19 (7), 1271-1280. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2009.1673