Being Silenced: The Impact of Negative Social Reactions on the Disclosure of Rape
Open accessAbstract
Rape survivors who speak out about their assault experiences are often punished for doing so when they are subjected to negative reactions from support providers. These negative reactions may thereby serve a silencing function, leading some rape survivors to stop talking about their experiences to anyone at all. The current study sought to examine this worst case scenario. Focusing on the qualitative narratives of eight rape survivors who initially disclosed the assault but then stopped disclosing for a significant period of time, this study sought to provide an in‐depth description of how negative reactions silenced these survivors. Three routes to silence were identified: 1) negative reactions from professionals led survivors to question whether future disclosures would be effective; 2) negative reactions from friends and family reinforced feelings of self‐blame; and 3) negative reactions from either source reinforced uncertainty about whether their experiences qualified as rape. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
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Not being believed by family and friends can increase depressive symptoms, further exacerbate the negative impact of SA, and increase feelings of blame.
“While family and friend support can be beneficial, not being believed by family and friends can increase depressive symptoms, further exacerbate the negative impact of SA (Kaukinen & Demaris, 2009), and increase feelings of blame (Ahrens, 2006).”
From “Having One Person Tell Me I Didn’t Do the Wrong Thing”: The Impact of Support on the Post-Sexual Assault Exam Experience (2024) · cites this paper as Ahrens, 2006
The Results section reports that negative reactions from a survivor’s mother and friends reinforced her feelings of self-blame. It describes those reactions as blaming her, however, rather than not believing her. Ahrens supports the increased-blame part of the citation, but not that specific trigger; the depressive-symptoms and broader-impact claims are attached to a different citation. Page numbers are not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredStudies have documented that interactions with law enforcement can be a source of invalidation and blame following a SA.
“Studies have documented that interactions with law enforcement can be a source of invalidation and blame following a SA (Ahrens, 2006; Campbell, 2006; Maier, 2008)”
From “Having One Person Tell Me I Didn’t Do the Wrong Thing”: The Impact of Support on the Post-Sexual Assault Exam Experience (2024) · cites this paper as Ahrens, 2006
Literature has found that the response from family members can have a strong impact on mental health and recovery after SA.
“Literature has found that the response from family members can have a strong impact on mental health and recovery after SA (Ahrens, 2006).”
From “Having One Person Tell Me I Didn’t Do the Wrong Thing”: The Impact of Support on the Post-Sexual Assault Exam Experience (2024) · cites this paper as Ahrens, 2006
Experiencing invalidation from a system that is designed to protect can have strong implications for thwarting future help-seeking as negative reactions from formal supports can lead individuals to believe further disclosure will not be effective.
“Experiencing invalidation from a system that is designed to protect can have strong implications for thwarting future help-seeking as negative reactions from formal supports can lead individuals to believe further disclosure will not be effective (Ahrens, 2006).”
From “Having One Person Tell Me I Didn’t Do the Wrong Thing”: The Impact of Support on the Post-Sexual Assault Exam Experience (2024) · cites this paper as Ahrens, 2006
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“Self-blame has also been found to be associated with delayed disclosure or silence surrounding abuse (Ahrens, 2006; Kellogg & Hoffman, 1997; Ullman, 2007).”
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“Literature has found that the response from family members can have a strong impact on mental health and recovery after SA (Ahrens, 2006).”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Ahrens, C. E.
- Affiliations
- California State University, Long Beach (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ahrens, Courtney E.
- ORCID
- Ahrens, Courtney E.
- Venue
- American Journal of Community Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2006-11-09
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 31-34
- ISSN
- 0091-0562 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-2770
- PMC
- PMC1705531
- OpenAlex
- W2117819807
- Cited by
- 567
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 27 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 52 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 29 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 17.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- American Journal of Community Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R24 MH54212-02, R24MH054212)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Keywords
- rape victims, disclosure of sexual assault, silencing, support providers, self-blame, family and friends
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attitude, Ethnicity, Female, Humans, Surveys and Questionnaires, Rape, Self Disclosure, Social Support, Stereotyping, Survival, Crime Victims
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