NCJ Number
179008
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 5 Issue: 9 Dated: September 1999 Pages: 993-1016
Editor(s)
Claire Renzetti
Date Published
1999
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This study used National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data to examine sexual assault chronicity and help-seeking behaviors among survivors of marital, acquaintance, and stranger sexual assault.
Abstract
Data for the NCVS are collected annually from approximately 50,000 households. Households are selected using a multistage, multicluster design. Each household is interviewed 7 times every 6 months for 2.5 years. Questions focus only on victimizations that occurred within the 6-month period between interviews. The dependent variables for the current study encompassed multiple sexual attacks and help-seeking behavior. Independent variables addressed victim-offender relationship, demographic characteristics, and incident characteristics. Findings show that in contrast to survivors of sexual assaults by acquaintances or strangers, survivors of assaults by husbands and ex-husbands experienced repeated sexual assaults within a relatively short time. In addition, the rate of help-seeking was lowest for survivors of marital sexual assault, with nearly two-thirds not seeking medical, police, or agency help. The largest differences in help-seeking were found in comparisons to stranger sexual assault survivors. Differences in help-seeking between marital and acquaintance sexual assault survivors were never large nor statistically significant. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed. 4 tables, 1 figure, 7 notes, and 42 references