Consequences of Gender-Based Abuse: Trauma Symptomology among Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault and Intimate Partner Violence

• In Event: Consequences of Victimization: Biosocial and Developmental Perspectives

Abstract

Research suggests that traditional police responses to victims/survivors of gender-based violence such as sexual assault and intimate partner violence may be ineffective or even harmful due to the complex issues associated with experiencing these types of trauma. Many victims/survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner experience not only direct harms from their victimization, but also have secondary consequences such as depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms. While these consequences have been studied in isolation, little is known about whether or to what extent the symptoms of varying forms of gender-based abuse are common across abuse type. The current study examines these commonalities in trauma symptoms experienced by victims/survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence in a sample of university students. This information may help create more effective trauma-informed responses to gender-based violence.

Authors

• Benjamin Comer, Boise State University

• Jessica Wells, Boise State University

• Eric Cooke, Sam Houston State University

• Richard Lewis, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

• Danielle Boisvert, Sam Houston State University

• Todd Armstrong, University of Nebraska at Omaha