What Are the Effects of Sexual Violence?

Sexual violence is a serious crime and can have long-term impacts on the people affected. Impacts can include physical and emotional trauma, financial costs such as medical and legal bills, and difficulties relating to work and relationships. Survivors may also experience mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. It is important to remember that the effects of sexual violence can affect not just the survivor but their family, friends and community.

SGBV can be experienced in any part of the world, by people of all ages and from all backgrounds, cultures, faiths and sexualities. It can occur in all types of relationships, including intimate ones like those with partners, parents and children. It can happen to people with disabilities and can be perpetrated by someone they know or even someone they have a relationship with, such as an employer, colleague or neighbour.

People who have survived sexual violence often feel that they have to keep quiet about it and can struggle to talk about their experiences. They can experience shame, guilt, embarrassment and fear of being judged or told they are to blame for what happened to them. This can lead to them not seeking help or believing they can’t be helped. It is also common for survivors to avoid activities that were a regular part of their life before the assault or find it difficult to get involved in those things again. They might also find themselves feeling emotionally numb and dissociated from their bodies, sometimes seeking experiences that can provide them with feelings of sensation such as self-injury.

Many survivors have difficulty understanding what has happened to them. They might have a sense of denial and wonder why this has happened to them, particularly when the perpetrator is someone they knew or trusted. They may think they could have done something differently to stop it from happening, or that what happened wasn’t really a sexual assault or rape because they didn’t fight back or say no. They might also have a difficult time accepting that it has happened to them because they don’t feel like they can identify with the victim or perpetrator stereotypes of what is considered “normal”.

There are some evidence-based prevention approaches that have been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of sexual violence and preventing it from occurring. These are known as primary prevention strategies, and are aimed at addressing the risks that are linked to the perpetration of sexual violence before it occurs. This can include changing societal and environmental factors that increase the likelihood of sexual violence such as peer influences, small-scale social norms changes through bystander intervention or school poster campaigns. There is still a need to focus more on the development of community- and societal-level prevention approaches, in addition to individual- and relationship-based interventions, such as teaching children about respectful relationships. This includes creating safe spaces in schools, communities and workplaces where victims can receive support and not feel isolated and unsupported.