abstract: Following a sexual assault, victims are advised to have a medical forensic exam and undergo a sexual assault kit (SAK) collection. The SAK is then held in police storage until it undergoes testing at a crime lab. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of SAKs in the United States remain untested. This thesis examines SAK submission by organizational decision makers in sexual assault case processing. Guided by Black's theory of law, this paper seeks to examine if white and minority victims systematically experience differential access to justice in terms of getting their respective SAKs submitted. Using data from a 1982-2012 Sexual Assault Kit Backlog Study in Los Angeles, California, the current study explores the relationship between race and SAK submission, legal (eg., case specific) and extralegal (eg., victim characteristics) variables across 1,826 backlogged SAKs and 339 non-backlogged SAKs. Results from the logistic regression analysis indicate that victims of nonstranger sexual assault are more likely to experience backlog of their SAK while victim race does not appear to affect SAK submission. Implications for theory, research and criminal justice practice are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Criminology and Criminal Justice 2016

abstract: One in five college women report being sexually assaulted (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2015) with college being the time when men are more likely to commit a sexual assault (Burgess, 2007). Victimization detracts from their college experience, leading to poor academic performance or less institutional commitment. College women who are victims of sexual assault are also at a higher risk of participating in risky sexual behavior. To reduce the prevalence of sexual assault at universities, it is important to develop effective prevention programs that can target and change attitudes and beliefs that contribute to the continued perpetuation of sexual violence on college campuses. Although there are multiple studies that examine the perspectives of sexual assault among college students, specifically rape myths, the majority of that research is quantitative and does not provide an in depth understanding of their beliefs and the potential factors that contribute to those beliefs. The purpose of this study was to provide an in depth analysis of the attitudes and beliefs about sexual assault among college students. Twenty-five female and 20 male college students participated in semi-structured focus groups or interviews. Open coding was used to gain an understanding of their beliefs concerning sexual assault. Results demonstrated that students possess multiple and often contradictory beliefs about sexual assault and issues that contribute to those beliefs that can be addressed and changed using sexual assault prevention. Three of those broad themes included barriers to talking about sexual assault, social and cultural norms that contribute to sexual assault and how college students communicate their sexual needs and desires, including consent. This research reveals that researchers and advocates do not have a complete understanding of perspectives of sexual assault among college students. Prevention programs may have been developed based on incomplete information and assumptions about what college students believe. Therefore, this study provides information that can be used to develop intervention programs that specifically target the most relevant ideas about sexual assault that are most relevant to the experiences of college students. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Social Work 2018

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Thesis advisor: Holly B. Fontenot / Sexual assault is a national public health problem, yet there is a dearth of information about how and why survivors disclose and obtain post sexual assault healthcare in the era of social media campaigns. This study examined the influence of #MeToo on sexual assault survivors’ decision-making post assault, including formal disclosures to health providers and formal health seeking behaviors. The research question is “what are the patterns of sexual assault survivors’ disclosure and health seeking behaviors in the era of #MeToo?” A qualitative, exploratory descriptive study was undertaken to understand the influence of #MeToo on a survivor’s decision to disclose sexual assault and obtain health care. With the use of online focus groups, 56 participants’ stories were shared, and four salient themes emerged. These results were the first to provide insight into how an online social media movement (#MeToo) influenced offline health behaviors. The knowledge gained from this study advanced nursing science focused on the care of sexual assault survivors. Additionally, findings informed intervention strategies such as developing targeted public health campaigns that capitalize on online social movements to impact offline behaviors. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

Survivors of sexual assault struggle to cope with subsequent psychological disturbances. The project facility was a rural hospital in the southwestern United States in which postasault care was initially provided, but survivors later returned to the emergency department. Support groups can be a powerful tool to alleviate long-term consequences of assault by helping individuals cope and improving socialization. This project used the social-ecological theory to explore whether a sexual assault support group would impact the progress of survivors toward improved social interaction, improved socialization, and decreased psychological disturbance. The purpose of the quality improvement (QI) project was the development of a sexual assault support group, based on the International Association of Forensic Nurses guideline to improve and expand health care services for survivors of sexual assault. The QI development was accomplished in conjunction with a team of local experts consisting of law enforcement, social worker, nurse, victims advocate and, a victim of sexual assault, who provided process evaluation regarding their satisfaction with the planning process through the completion of an anonymous, 10-question, Likert-type survey. A descriptive analysis of the data provided information that positively supported the development of the project. Project deliverables included the developed QI, a plan for later implementation, and plans for outcome evaluation through measurement of socialization, psychological disturbances, and emergency department visits. This project has the potential to achieve positive social change through improved quality of life for survivors of sexual assault

On college campuses, Title IX is used to prevent sexual assault. As sexual assault is experienced predominately by women, this research seeks to examine a relationship between gender and opinions on the Title IX changes of 2017, which rescinded protections for victims of sexual assault. To answer this, a thematic content analysis was conducted on online news article comment forums. The results indicated that men were more likely to support changes to Title IX guidelines, and women were more likely to oppose these changes. Drawing on these differences, administrators on college campuses can be prepared for new programming and new policies can be informed from the public opinion.

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To date, most research on sexual assault disclosure has utilized samples composed predominately of White women (Fedina et al., 2018). As a result, there is a need for research that examines sexual assault disclosure within racially and ethnically diverse samples. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine whether survivors’ race/ethnicity is related to whether they disclose their sexual assault to others of the same and different races and ethnicities. The study recruited undergraduate college students from the UCF Psychology Department Sona System to complete an online survey that assessed history of sexual assault and disclosure of sexual assault (for those who endorsed a history of sexual assault). For the current study, the sample was restricted to students who had experienced a sexual assault since the age of 14 (n = 139). White participants were more likely to disclose to a friend of the same race than non-White participants, χ 2 (1, N = 139) = 11.80, p < .001, and more likely to disclose to a family member of the same race than non-White participants, χ 2 (1, N = 139) = 5.32, p = .021. Additionally, there are no statistically significant differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic participants in disclosure likelihood for any type of disclosure recipient group. These findings suggest that research examining barriers of sexual assault disclosure in diverse racial and ethnic populations is needed.

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SAMMANFATTNING  Bakgrund: Sexuella övergrepp ökar i det svenska samhället, vilket kan leda till posttraumatiskt stressyndrom. De kvinnor som utsatts för övergrepp befinner sig i ett stort behov av professionell hjälp och stöd från vårdpersonal under återhämtningsprocessen. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur kvinnor som varit utsatta fören traumatisk livshändelse i form av sexuellt våld upplever det stöd de har fått från vårdpersonalen. Metod: Den metod som valdes var litteraturstudie med granskning av tio vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativ design publicerade mellan år 2000 och 2017 i Psychinfo och PubMed. De inkluderade artiklarna kvalitetsgranskades med hjälp av en granskningsmall. Resultat: Studien resulterade i sex olika kategorier: känslan av skam i möte med vårdpersonalen, vårdpersonalens sätt att se hela människan, vikten av att anmäla, samverkan mellan olika yrkesprofessioner och brist på kunskap hos vårdpersonalen. Slutsats: Studien visar att fler kvalitativa studier behövs för att ge bästa möjliga stöd till kvinnliga patienter, som har upplevt en traumatisk livshändelse i form av sexuellt våld. Vårdpersonalen har en bristande förmåga att bemöta och ge dessa kvinnor korrekt stöd utifrån en holistisk syn. Kvinnorna uttryckte att stödet de fick som otillräckligt, där den medicinska vården var bra men omvårdnaden i helhet var otillräcklig. Vårdpersonal behöver mer och bättre utbildning inom detta område, för att ge dessa kvinnor det stöd och den omvårdnad de har behov av.   Nyckelord: Trauma, sjuksköterska, sexuella övergrepp / ABSTRACT Background: Sexual abuse of women is increasing dramatically in the society, therefore the topic is relevant for the individual, the society and health care. Sexual abuse often leads to a post-traumatic stress disorder. The women is in great need of professional help and support from the nursing staff during the recovery process. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate how female patients who have experinced a traumatic life event by sexual violence perceive the support from the health care professionals. Method: The design of study was a literature review. A total of ten scientific articles were included. The articles had a qualitative design and were published between 2000 and 2017 in the databases PsychInfo and PubMed. The included articles were reviewed by using a review template. Results: The study resulted in six different categories: sense of shame in the meeting with the nursing staff, nursing staff way to see the whole person, the importance of notification, collaboration between professional professions and lack of knowledge among health professionals. Conclusion: The study shows that more research with a qualitative design is needed to develope the knowledge to provide the best possible support for the women who have experienced a traumatic life event by sexual abuse. The nursing staff does not provide sufficient support and do not meet the patients need in a holistic view. The women expressed the support they received as insufficient, in which medical care was good but the care of the whole was insufficient. There is a need for an improved education among health care professionals regarding the support and caring of these women. Keywords: trauma, nurse, sexual assault