“Sometimes It Seems Easier to Push It Away”: A Study Into the Barriers to Help-Seeking for Victims of Sexual Violence

Abstract

Experiencing sexual violence may have serious long-term consequences for victims. Seeking help may decrease the chances of developing long-term physical and psychosocial problems. Still not every victim seeks help, and especially with victimization of sexual violence, there may be several reasons as to why. The barriers to help-seeking are diverse and may depend on several contextual factors. This study, as part of a larger research project, aimed to determine the barriers that victims of sexual violence experience in their decision to seek help in a non-college setting. This mixed-methods study included an online survey ( N = 133) and open-ended survey ( N = 207) amongst victims of 18 years and older. The online survey data were analyzed using chi-square tests for independence and t-tests; the open-ended survey data were analyzed using a descriptive approach. The online survey data showed that minimization of the incident was higher for non-help-seekers, whilst distrust toward support providers and issues with the accessibility of help were higher for help-seekers. No further significant associations were found between the decision to seek help and the barriers to help-seeking. From the open-ended survey data, three categories of barriers were distinguished: (a) individual barriers, such as feelings of shame, (b) interpersonal barriers, such as the fear of negative social reactions and (c) sociocultural barriers, such as societal stereotypes regarding sexual violence. The findings suggest that victims experience various, but primarily individual, barriers to help-seeking and that these barriers do not strongly differ between help-seekers and non-help-seekers. This study highlights the importance of addressing barriers to help-seeking on an organizational and societal level to encourage help-seeking.

“In the End You Keep Silent”: Help-Seeking Behavior Upon Sexual Victimization in Older Adults

“…Our quantitative results show few older victims sought help upon SV. Around 40% had informally disclosed their experience(s), which is less compared to the 50% disclosure rate found by a Belgian study with SV victims between 16 and 69 years old, and the 65% disclosure rate reported in a recent Dutch study (Keygnaert et al, 2021; Pijlman et al, 2023). Only 6% of older victims in our sample had ever sought professional help, which is comparable to 8% of adult victims in the Belgian study (Keygnaert et al, 2021), but less compared to the 23% found in the Dutch study (Pijlman et al, 2023).…”

“…As a result of the cognitive and emotional process represented by the different phases, most older victims made the choice to cope on their own (theme: Coping on my own). Like adult victims, older victims mainly used an avoidant coping strategy (Carson et al, 2020, DeLoveh & Cattaneo, 2017Mennicke et al, 2021;Patterson et al, 2009;Pijlman et al, 2023;Walsh et al, 2010). Older victims, unlike adult victims, also applied "transgenerational coping."…”

“…At the individual level, feelings of shame and self-blame are often reported. Victims may find it difficult to label their experience as SV, have a tendency to minimize the impact of the SV incident, wish to forget or ignore the incident or solve the problem themselves (Carson et al, 2020, DeLoveh & Cattaneo, 2017; Mennicke et al, 2021; Patterson et al, 2009; Pijlman et al, 2023; Walsh et al, 2010). Moreover, victims are often unaware of the existing options for care or find it difficult to find care they trust (Holland & Cortina, 2017; Mennicke et al, 2021; Patterson et al, 2009; Walsh et al, 2010).…”

“Just something that happened?”: Mental health impact of disclosure and framing of sexual violence in older victims

“…17,18 Adult victims experience different individual, interpersonal, and sociocultural barriers to help-seeking, such as feelings of shame, fear of negative social reactions and societal stereotypes regarding SV. 19,20 Older adults report not needing help, embarrassment, and the fear of not being believed as most important reasons not to seek professional help upon intimate partner violence and SV. 21,22 Whether or not SV disclosure leads to a decrease of mental health problems remains unclear in current research.…”

“…Research has shown that only few SV victims disclose their experiences to their informal network, seek professional help or report to the police 17,18 . Adult victims experience different individual, interpersonal, and sociocultural barriers to help‐seeking, such as feelings of shame, fear of negative social reactions and societal stereotypes regarding SV 19,20 . Older adults report not needing help, embarrassment, and the fear of not being believed as most important reasons not to seek professional help upon intimate partner violence and SV 21,22 …”