#Sexual trauma professional#

Failure to disclose sexual assault immediately after the event does not mean it never happened.Д«ecause of the complex ways in which sexual assault and related coercion and abuse exploit power and control - and, thus, undermine victimsвЂ™ self-confidence and self-esteem - many victims struggle to disclose an assault, and may even have trouble admitting to themselves that it happened. There are many reasons why survivors do not disclose traumatic events until long after they occur. (However, two-thirds of survivors eventually disclose sexual assault to informal systems, usually family, friends, or romantic partners.) And for every black woman who reports rape, at least 15 do not report. The vast majority of sexual assaults are never reported to authorities: RAINN estimates that out of every 1,000 sexual assault cases, only 230 are reported to the police. It often takes time for survivors to report to anyone, let alone to the authorities. Of women who are raped, over half ( 51 percent) are raped by an intimate partner and 40 percent are raped by an acquaintance. Research also shows that one in three women and one in six men experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. Rape victimsвЂ™ stories tend to be true: only two to eight percent of rapes are falsely reported (the percentage is the same for other felonies). And when harassment drives survivors out of highly-specialized fields that they are deeply invested in, the career loss can result in вЂњ profound grief.вЂќ Sexual assault is most often committed by people known to, and trusted by, their victims.

#Sexual trauma professional#

Sexual harassment (and sexual assault in the workplace) often drives survivors to withdraw from their work, move, or change jobs, potentially at great economic or professional cost. In addition to the barriers that prevent survivors of other sexual traumas from reporting, survivors of work-related sexual misconduct also legitimately fear for their careers, promotions, and even their safety. When they are, 75 percent of victims report experiencing some form of retaliation. Sexual harassment leads to long-lasting economic and professional consequences for victims, whether or not they come forward.ДЄn estimated three out of four sexual harassment cases are never formally reported.

Black women report experiencing sexual harassment at work at three times the rate of white women.

As many as six in 10 black women report being subjected to coercive sexual contact by age 18 and.

Black women are subjected to both racism and sexism - a double bind that puts black women at higher risk for sexual violence.