PTSD and Sexual Trauma

Although it is the most prevalent crime in the United States at present, sexual assaults remain woefully underreported and the true scope of the problem may be even more severe than estimates indicate. In fact, most American men and women will suffer some type of sexual assault during their lifetime, and the mental health implications of these crimes also remains understudied. What is known for certain at present is that while the crime does not rise to that of rape in terms of severity, sexual assault can have a number of adverse psychological effects on victims, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The purpose of this paper is to review the relevant literature to identify the psychological effects of sexual assault and a discussion concerning whether sexual assault such as touch or words can lead to the development of PTSD. Finally, the paper provides a summary of the research and the key findings that emerged concerning these issues in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

At present, sexual assaults are believed to be the most prevalent crimes in the US, yet also the most underreported. In spite of a number of important legislative initiatives, the current statistics about sexual assault indicate that far too many of these criminal acts remain unaddressed, underreported and poorly understood (Kuadli, 2022). What is known with any degree of certainty today is that there are nearly half million cases of sexual assault among victims aged 12 years and over in the United States each year (Sexual Assault, 2023). Moreover, a growing body of scholarship confirms that the victims of sexual assault frequently experience a wide array of emotional and physical effects that can persist indefinitely.

It is important, however, to operationalize the terms that are involved in order to gain a better understanding of the type of severity of the criminal acts that define sexual assault versus rape. On the one hand, the term sexual assault refers to sexual contact or behavior that occurs without explicit consent of the victim (Sexual Assault, 2023, para. 4). Some examples of sexual assault include fondling, unwanted sexual touching or forcing a victim to perform various sexual acts such as oral sex (Sexual Assault, 2023).

By contrast, although rape is a type of sexual assault, not all instances of sexual assault rise to the legal offense of rape. For instance, the authorities at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (2023) report that, The term rape is often used as a legal definition to specifically include sexual penetration without consent (Sexual Assault, 2023, para. 3). While the definitions of rape vary by jurisdiction, the legal definition provided by Blacks Law Dictionary (1991) indicates that rape specifically includes penetration. In this regard, Blacks reports that, [Rape is] the act of sexual intercourse committed by a man with and without her consent, committed when the womans resistance is overcome by force or fear, or under other prohibitive conditions (p. 1260).

Based on the foregoing, it is clear that both sexual assault and rape exist along a continuum of severity which can have a significant corresponding effect on the likelihood of victims developing PTSD. In fact, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) includes sexual trauma among the most common causes of PTSD. For example, the APA notes that, Posttraumatic stress disorder is a psychiatric disorder that may occur in people who have experienced a traumatic event [such as] sexual assault (Overview of PTSD, 2023, para. 2), As discussed further below, many people may experience PTSD-like symptoms in the...

While any type of traumatic experience can cause PTSD or PTSD-like symptoms, victims of sexual assault are especially vulnerable to developing PTSD and reexperiencing the episode when confronted with similar circumstances (Harris et al., 2021). Although these symptoms are typically more frequent and intense in the immediate aftermath of a sexual assault, especially in the presence of trigger words, touches or situations, they can occur at any time over an individuals lifespan (Nobels et al., 2022; Pijpers et al.,2022). In this regard, the APA adds that, People with PTSD may relive the event through flashbacks or nightmares; they may avoid situations or people that remind them of the traumatic event, and they may have strong negative reactions to something as ordinary as an accidental touch (Overview of PTSD, 2023, para. 5). The risk of developing PTSD following a sexual assault is mediated somewhat, though, by individual resilience factors, and some victims experience far fewer PTSD-like symptoms than others, but this resilience does not completely prevent the recurrence of symptoms over time (Valdespino-Hayden et al., 2022).

Conclusion

From the victims perspective, there is likely little difference between sexual assault and rape when it is especially severe or violent in nature, and the research was consistent in showing that victims of sexual assault are at high risk of developing PTSD as a result of their experience. The research also showed that sexual assault is the most common crime in the U.S. today, but its precise prevalence remains unknown because it is also among the most underreported crimes. Nevertheless, it is clear that victims of sexual assault can suffer from a wide range of emotional and physical problems, including suicide in extreme instances. These findings underscore the…