Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: An Often Overlooked Problem

Analysis of a Modification to the Sexual Experiences Survey to Assess Intimate Partner Sexual Violence

“…Indeed, following the Bagwell-Gray (2019) taxonomy, the SVAWS assesses intimate partner sexual assault while the SES-RP/NP assesses intimate partner sexual assault as well as sexual coercion and some aspects of physically forced sexual activity. This further underscores the variety in current approaches and lack of standardization in assessment tools to understand the scope of IPSV (Barker et al, 2019).…”

“…shelters. Yet in both cases, not identifying IPSV may lead to a lack of needed services as IPSV has been associated with serious health consequences (Barker, Stewart, & Vigod, 2019). Finally, we note that these definitions are behaviorally focused and somewhat de-contextualized given the Western worldview of much research; whereas, how these behaviors are recognized and interpreted by those who experience them has been very much grounded in a socio-cultural context (Torres, 2019).…”

“…People who experience IPSV may endure the most severe experiences of either sexual violence or IPV. Though hampered by methodological issues, research has suggested cases which include IPSV have the highest and most serious health needs, such as risk for homicide (Barker et al, 2019). IPSV was shown to be a common cause of teen and unintended pregnancies which are at greater risk for poorer health outcomes (Barber, Kusunoki, Gatny & Melendez, 2017).…”

“…However, for measuring IPSV, it is notable that this minimum does not include relationship to the perpetrator and other contextual elements. Indeed, one review of the IPSV literature noted that definitions and operationalizations of IPSV were highly variable (Barker, Stewart, & Vigod, 2019) and have hindered research on this topic. Researchers have suggested that the context of violence is important for understanding how people cope and recover after IPV.…”

“…At minimum, the current study highlighted the importance of prompting individuals to consider sexual violence within intimate relationships. This is of particular importance as research has identified significant relationships between IPSV and negative mental and physical health outcomes, as well as chronicity and severity of abuse (e.g., Littleton & Henderson., 2009) suggesting survivors of IPSV may have especially high clinical needs (Barker et al, 2019). Furthermore, the SES-RP/NP may be a useful resource for clients to assist with insight and consciousness raising, both of which may be precursors for therapeutic change, as cultural myths surrounding rape (e.g., a romantic partner cannot rape another partner) may impede personal labeling of IPSV.…”