Common Responses After Surviving Sexual Violence

Physical

Gastrointestinal disorders (CDC, 2007)

Gynecological and pregnancy complications (CDC, 2007)

Chronic pelvic pain (CDC, 2007)

Over 32,000 pregnancies result from rape every year, suggesting that about 1-5% of raped women will become pregnant as a result of the assault (Holmes, 1996).

Up to 40% of women who are raped will contract a sexually transmitted infection (Holmes, 1996). 

Psychological: short-term (Ackard, 2002; Faravelli, 2004; Felitti, 1998; Krakow, 2002; and Ystgaard, 2004)

Shock

Denial

Fear

Anxiety

Guilt

Shame

Distrust of others

Psychological: long-term

Depression (CDC, 2007)

Attempted or completed suicide (CDC, 2007)

• Rape survivors are 13 times more likely to attempt suicide than people that have not been a victim of a crime and 6 times more likely than victims of crimes besides rape.  30% of rape survivors contemplate suicide after the rape (Warshaw, 1994).

High-risk Health-Related Behaviors

Unprotected sex          

Choosing unhealthy sexual partners

Using coping mechanisms including harmful substances such as cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs (Champion, 2004).

Female adolescent abuse survivors are more likely to develop eating disorders; 18% binge and purge, while only 6% of non-abused adolescent girls do so (The Commonwealth Fund Survey of the Health of Adolescent Girls, 1997). 

30% of female adolescent survivors use illegal drugs, compared to 13% of teenage girls who were never sexually abused (The Commonwealth Fund Survey of the Health of Adolescent Girls, 1997).