Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: Survivor Disclosing

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence

Synonyms

Coercion; Disclosure; Intimate partner violence; Perpetrator; Rape, Sexual abuse; Sexual assault; Sexual violence; Survivors

Definition

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is defined as abuse or aggression that occurs in a romantic relationship with a former partner or spouse (Leemis et al., 2022). IPV includes physical violence, sexual violence, stalking, and psychological aggression. Intimate Partner Sexual Violence (IPSV) is a component of IPV and refers to the act of forcing or attempting to force a partner to take part in a sex act, sexual touching, or a non-physical sexual event (e.g., sexting) when the partner does not or cannot consent (Leemis et al., 2022). While IPSV can, and does, occur in same-sex relationships, and can be perpetrated by women against men, statistics show that IPSV is most often perpetrated by males against their female partners (Bagwell-Gray et al., 2015; Leemis et al., 2022). The latest US national statistics estimate that approximately 20% of women...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Addington, L. A. (2022). Exploring help seeking patterns for emerging adult victims using the national intimate partner and sexual violence survey. Violence Against Women, 28(5), 1188–1212. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012211014552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahrens, C. E., Campbell, R., Ternier-Thames, N. K., Wasco, S. M., & Sefl, T. (2007). Deciding whom to tell: Expectations and outcomes of rape survivors’ first disclosures. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31(1), 38–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00329.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahrens, C. E., Rios-Mandel, L. C., Isas, L., & Del Carmen Lopez, M. (2010a). Talking about interpersonal violence: Cultural influences on Latinas’ identification and disclosure of sexual assault and intimate partner violence. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2(4), 284–295. https://doi.org/10.1037/A0018605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahrens, C. E., Stansell, J., & Jennings, A. (2010b). To tell or not to tell: The impact of disclosure on sexual assault survivors’ recovery. Violence and Victims, 25(5), 631–648. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21061869

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bagwell-Gray, M. E., Messing, J. T., & Baldwin-White, A. (2015). Intimate partner sexual violence: A review of terms, definitions, and prevalence. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 16(3), 316–335. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838014557290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banerjee, D., & Rao, T. S. S. (2022). The dark shadow of marital rape: Need to change the narrative. Journal of Psychosexual Health, 4(1), 11–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/26318318221083709

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. N. T., & Herman, J. L. (2015). Intimate partner violence and sexual abuse among LGBT people. A review of existing research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, J. C. (2002). Health consequences of intimate partner violence. The Lancet, 359, 1331–1336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, R., Dworkin, E., & Cabral, G. (2009). An ecological model of the impact of sexual assault on women’s mental health. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 10(3), 225–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838009334456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carretta, C. M., Burgess, A. W., & DeMarco, R. (2015). To tell or not to tell. Violence Against Women, 21(9), 1145–1165. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801215590672

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carson, K. W., Babad, S., Brown, E. J., Brumbaugh, C. C., Castillo, B. K., & Nikulina, V. (2020). Why women are not talking about it: Reasons for nondisclosure of sexual victimization and associated symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. Violence Against Women, 26(3–4). https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801219832913

  • Carson, K. W., Babad, S., Brown, E. J., & Nikulina, V. (2021a). Why do women talk about it? Reasons for disclosure of sexual victimization and associated symptomology. Violence Against Women, 27(15–16), 3114–3135. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801220978818

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carson, K. W., Babad, S., Kosuri, M., Bursky, M., Fairchild, V., Barahmand, U., et al. (2021b). Sexual victimization disclosure: A cluster analysis approach to understanding victimization experiences in disclosers and non-disclosers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(22), 11919. https://doi.org/10.3390/IJERPH182211919

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickerson-Amaya, N., & Coston, B. M. (2019). Invisibility is not invincibility: The impact of intimate partner violence on gay, bisexual, and straight men’s mental health. American Journal of Men’s Health, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988319849734

  • Donne, M. D., DeLuca, J., Pleskach, P., Bromson, C., Mosley, M. P., Perez, E. T., … Frye, V. (2018). Barriers to and facilitators of help-seeking behavior among men who experience sexual violence. American Journal of Men’s Health, 12(2), 189–201. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557988317740665

  • Dworkin, E. R., Brill, C. D., & Ullman, S. E. (2019, August 1). Social reactions to disclosure of interpersonal violence and psychopathology: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2019.101750

  • Hines, D. A., & Douglas, E. M. (2016). Sexual aggression experiences among male victims of physical partner violence: Prevalence, severity, and health correlates for male victims and their children. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45(5), 1133–1151. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10508-014-0393-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leemis, R. W., Friar, N., Khatiwada, S., Chen, M. S., Kresnow, M., Smith, S. G., … Basile, K. C. (2022). The national intimate partner and sexual violence survey: 2016/2017 report on intimate partner violence.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nikulina, V., Bautista, A., & Brown, E. J. (2019). Negative Responses to Disclosure of Sexual Victimization and Victims’ Symptoms of PTSD and Depression: The Protective Role of Ethnic Identity. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(21–22). https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516676475

  • Petersson, C. C., & Plantin, L. (2019). Breaking with norms of masculinity: Men making sense of their experience of sexual assault. Clinical Social Work Journal, 47(4), 372–383. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10615-019-00699-Y/TABLES/1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sorsoli, L., Kia-Keating, M., & Grossman, F. K. (2008). “I keep that hush-hush”: Male survivors of sexual abuse and the challenges of disclosure. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 55(3), 333–345. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.55.3.333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ullman, S. E., Filipas, H. H., Townsend, S. M., & Starzynski, L. L. (2007). Psychosocial correlates of PTSD symptom severity in sexual assault survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20(5), 821–831. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshioka, M., & Quynh, D. (2000). Asian family violence report. A study of Chinese, Cambodian, Korean, South Asian and Vietnamese Communities in Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Valentina Nikulina .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Section Editor information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Tineo, K., Brumbaugh, C., Nikulina, V. (2023). Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: Survivor Disclosing. In: Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85493-5_865-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85493-5_865-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-85493-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-85493-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Navigation