Alison Marganski
Associate Professor & Director Of Criminology, Le Moyne College
Key Findings
- Victims increasingly have turned to social media in the digital age to spread awareness about victimization through their experiences.
- Online safe spaces help empower individuals to heal by providing support and validation for their experiences and shut down the victim-blaming narratives that dominate.
- Factors that impacted an individual’s decision to disclose sexual victimization include assault characteristics, relationship with the perpetrator, past assault experiences, culture, timing of disclosure, and perceptions of care and judgement from service providers.
- For African American women, there are additional barriers, such as discrimination by service providers and hyper-sexualization in the media.
- Minority women (individuals part of immigrant, LGBTQ+ disable and religious groups among others) and individuals with multiple compounding identities also face additional barriers to disclosing, such as lack of informal support groups.
- Backlash from online commentators is another barrier for individuals seeking to disclose sexual victimization online.
Description
In the article, “Silent Voices, Hidden Stories: A Review of Sexual Assault (Non)Disclosure Literature, Emerging Issues, and Call to Action,” Marganski and her co-authors examine how digital environments can impact an individual’s decision to disclose sexual and dating victimization. The 2017 #MeToo movement was the first digital movement that encouraged conversations about sexual victimization on the Internet, empowered others to speak up, and shed light on the issues that prevent justice for survivors. To conduct their study on digital disclosure of sexual victimization, the authors conducted an international literary review. They found that victims increasingly have turned to social media in the digital age to spread awareness about victimization through their experiences. Online safe spaces help empower individuals to heal by providing support and validation for their experiences and shut down the victim-blaming narratives that dominate the news. Factors that impacted an individual’s decision to disclose sexual victimization include assault characteristics, relationship with the perpetrator, past assault experiences, culture, timing of disclosure, and perceptions of care and judgement from service providers. For African American women, there are additional barriers, such as discrimination by service providers and hyper-sexualization in the media. Minority women (e.g. individuals part of immigrant, LGBTQ+ disable and religious groups, among others) and individuals with multiple compounding identities, also face additional barriers to disclosure, such as a lack of informal support groups. Backlash from online commentators is another barrier for individuals seeking to disclose sexual victimization online. The authors note that this research can help service professions improve their trauma-informed care when working with survivors by knowing what types of resources survivors may need. In conclusion, the researchers note that there needs to be change in public perception, social platforms, legislation, and service providers in order to give justice to survivors.