The Impact of Sexual Assault Disclosure and Post-Disclosure Help-Seeking among Support Providers

• In Event: Reactions to Survivors and the Impact of Disclosure on Informal Support Providers from a Dyadic Interview Study

Abstract

Most studies on the impact of sexual assault disclosure focus on the experiences of friends of survivors but not significant others or family members. There are no recent qualitative studies that examine the impact of disclosure on friends, family, and significant others and their help-seeking behavior. This study of 45 matched pairs of sexual assault survivors and support providers explored the impact of receiving a disclosure and how they dealt with the emotional weight of these disclosures. Our results were categorized into three types of reactions from support providers: emotional, active behavior, and help-seeking. Emotional reactions contained both negative and positive impacts on support providers. Active reactions included care-taking for survivors and engaging in prevention such as bystander intervention. Help-seeking responses included different ways support providers sought help from others to help them deal with the disclosure. We provide recommendations for support providers using this data from a diverse, community sample.

Authors

• Anne Kirkner, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Katherine Lorenz, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Sarah E Ullman, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Rupashree Mandala, University of Illinois at Chicago