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Abstract

Organisations such as the ‘Office for National Statistics estimated that “for the year ending March 2020 there were 773,000 adults aged 16 to 74 years who were victims of sexual assault (including attempts) in the last year ( 2021). The author hopes that this review will assist Social workers and other social services in contemporary society, to understand the impacts of experiencing sexual abuse on all individuals to better assist them in working in a person centred and strengths based manner. Through taking a holistic approach to review literature focused on sexual victimisation the author hopes to aid professionals in curating their care to best suit the individual they work with.
For this piece of research, the author has chosen to use a literature review methodology. A literature review is a “comprehensive study and interpretation of literature that relates to a particular question ( 2019). When searching the author found literature on victims perspective of their victimisation was often about a specific sample group, with specific demographic characteristics. This means each piece of research in isolation may not be representative of wider demographics. There were 4 main themes identified including, the experience of other forms of abuse, substance and alcohol addiction, disclosure and feelings of invalidation and the impact of identity, gender and social norms. These key themes were analysed within wider theoretical approaches such as gender roles, identity construction, and care ethics to further understand how they influence victim experience.
The following recommendations were created as a result of the findings within the analysed literature: further research into the field to identif y more risk factors for victims of sexual assault within the UK, increased early help intervention and support to reduce the implications of risk factors associated with sexual assault, and finally research to identify effective intervention practices already in place.

Course: Social Work - BSc (Hons) - C1656

Date Deposited: 2021-10-20

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13715.html