“I Still Feel Like I Am Not Normal”: A Review of the Role of Stigma and Stigmatization Among Female Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, and Intimate Partner Violence
Abstract
Child sexual abuse (CSA), sexual assault (SA), and intimate partner violence (IPV) occur within social contexts that shape how survivors judge themselves and are evaluated by others. Because these are gendered sexual and intimate crimes that violate social norms about what is appropriate and acceptable, survivors may experience stigma that includes victim-blaming messages from the broader society as well as specific stigmatizing reactions from others in response to disclosure; this stigmatization can be internalized among survivors as self-blame, shame, and anticipatory stigma. Stigma and stigmatization play an important role in shaping survivors' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as they recover; their risk of revictimization; and their help-seeking and attainment process. In this review, we synthesize recent CSA, SA, and IPV research ( N = 123) that examines female survivors' self-blame, shame, internalized stigma, and anticipatory stigma as well as negative social reactions in response to survivors' disclosure. We highlight critical findings as well as implications for research, practice, and policy, and we note gaps in our current knowledge.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Stigma associated with sexual assault may contribute to inaccurate or unhelpful negative attributions or encourage avoidance of discussing the assault with others, uniquely obstructing PTSD recovery.
“Stigma associated with sexual assault (e.g., victim blame; Kennedy & Prock, 2018; Lebowitz & Roth, 1994) may contribute to inaccurate or unhelpful negative attributions or encourage avoidance of discussing the assault with others (Kelley et al., 2009; see for exception Smith et al., 2016), uniquely obstructing PTSD recovery.”
From PTSD in the Year Following Sexual Assault: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies (2023) · cites this paper as Kennedy & Prock, 2018
Survivors of sexual assault may be more likely to receive negative social reactions than survivors of non-stigmatized traumas.
“when survivors disclose sexual assault to others, they may be more likely to receive negative social reactions than survivors of non-stigmatized traumas (Kennedy & Prock, 2018).”
From PTSD in the Year Following Sexual Assault: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies (2023) · cites this paper as Kennedy & Prock, 2018
Societal stigma and negative social reactions may explain higher PTSD prevalence and severity after sexual assault versus other traumas.
“Given prior research suggesting that societal stigma and negative social reactions may explain higher PTSD prevalence and severity after sexual assault versus other traumas (Dworkin et al., 2019; Kennedy & Prock, 2018)”
From PTSD in the Year Following Sexual Assault: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies (2023) · cites this paper as Kennedy & Prock, 2018
Prosecutorial decision-making in sexual violence cases is influenced by the complainant's willingness to cooperate, whether the case is likely to result in a conviction, the complainant's perceived credibility, the presence of injuries, and whether the complainant and perpetrator were acquainted.
“Prosecutorial decision-making has been found to be influenced by the complainant’s willingness to cooperate (Kennedy, 2018; Spohn & Tellis, 2019), whether the case is likely to result in a conviction (O’Neal et al., 2015), the complainant’s perceived credibility (Beichner & Spohn, 2005; Campbell et al., 2012), the presence of injuries (Alderden & Ullman, 2012; Fansher & Welsh, 2023; O’Neal et al.,”
From Silenced Survivors: A Systematic Review of the Barriers to Reporting, Investigating, Prosecuting, and Sentencing of Adult Female Rape and Sexual Assault (2024) · cites this paper as Kennedy, 2018
Cites
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., & Altman, D. G. (2009) · Journal of Clinical Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2009.06.005 · Cited by 19,575 · see citing works
An ecological model of the impact of sexual assault on women's mental health
Campbell, R., Dworkin, E., & Cabral, G. (2009) · Trauma, Violence, & Abuse · doi:10.1177/1524838009334456 · Cited by 997 · see citing works
Sylaska, K. M., & Edwards, K. M. (2014) · Trauma, Violence, & Abuse · doi:10.1177/1524838013496335 · Cited by 456 · see citing works
Barriers to Domestic Violence Help Seeking: Implications for Intervention
Fugate, M., Landis, L., Riordan, K., Naureckas, S., & Engel, B. (2005) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801204271959 · Cited by 408 · see citing works
Social Reactions to Child Sexual Abuse Disclosures: A Critical Review
Ullman, S. E. (2002) · Journal of Child Sexual Abuse · doi:10.1300/j070v12n01_05 · Cited by 284 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The vast majority of CSA survivors do not disclose during childhood in part because of anticipatory stigma (Ullman, 2003); women who have been raped may be blamed for their own assaults when they seek help, thus exacerbating their trauma (Campbell, 2008); and survivors of IPV may feel shunned by…”
BackgroundPsychosocial correlates of PTSD symptom severity in sexual assault survivors
Ullman, S. E., Filipas, H. H., Townsend, S. M., & Starzynski, L. L. (2007) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.20290 · Cited by 266 · see citing works
Positive and negative adjustment and social support of sexual assault survivors
Borja, S. E., Callahan, J. L., & Long, P. J. (2006) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.20169 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
The role of victim-offender relationship in women’s sexual assault experiences
Ullman, S. E., Filipas, H. H., Townsend, S. M., & Starzynski, L. L. (2006) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/0886260506288590 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Trotter, J. L., & Allen, N. E. (2009) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10464-009-9232-1 · Cited by 119 · cited 1× · see citing works
“…and negative reactions from social network members, with some women experiencing victim blaming, minimization, and rejection upon disclosure (Trotter & Allen, 2009); African American women recruited from shelters described being labeled ‘‘stupid’’ and as a source of amusement: ‘‘ . . . he…”
Background
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Sexual assault victimization and psychopathology: A review and meta-analysis
Dworkin, E. R., Menon, S. V., Bystrynski, J., & Allen, N. E. (2017) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2017.06.002 · Cited by 825 · see citing works
Dworkin, E. R., Brill, C. D., & Ullman, S. E. (2019) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2019.101750 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
PTSD in the Year Following Sexual Assault: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies
Dworkin, E. R., Jaffe, A. E., Bedard-Gilligan, M., & Fitzpatrick, S. (2023) · Trauma, Violence, & Abuse · doi:10.1177/15248380211032213 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Román-Gálvez, R. M., Martín-Peláez, S., Fernández-Félix, B. M., Zamora, J., Khan, K. S., & Bueno-Cavanillas, A. (2021) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.738459 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Wieberneit, M., Thal, S., Clare, J., Notebaert, L., & Tubex, H. (2024) · Trauma, Violence, & Abuse · doi:10.1177/15248380241261404 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
The impact of sociocultural contexts on mental health following sexual violence: a conceptual model.
Dworkin, E. R., & Weaver, T. L. (2021) · Psychology of Violence · doi:10.1037/vio0000350 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Carson, K. W., Babad, S., Brown, E. J., Brumbaugh, C. C., Castillo, B. K., & Nikulina, V. (2020) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801219832913 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Campodonico, C., Varese, F., & Berry, K. (2022) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-022-03808-3 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
- Authors
- Kennedy, A. C., & Prock, K. A.
- Affiliations
- Michigan State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kennedy, Angie C.
- Venue
- Trauma, Violence, & Abuse
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-11-01
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 512-527
- ISSN
- 1524-8380 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-8324
- OpenAlex
- W2546378150
- Cited by
- 471
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 55 · 2025: 71 · 2024: 67 · 2023: 80 · 2022: 63 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 10
- FWCI
- 3.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Trauma Violence & Abuse (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- 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
- stigma, stigmatization, women survivors, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, self-blame, shame, self-stigma, victim blaming, disclosure, revictimization, help-seeking, gender
- MeSH terms
- Help-Seeking Behavior, Intimate Partner Violence, Child, Depression, Female, Humans, Rape, Shame, Stereotyping, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Crime Victims, Disclosure, Adult Survivors of Child Abuse
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
