ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the qualitative findings from participant interviews and the meaning derived from analysis of women's personal narratives. The concept of secondary trauma accounts for the negative effects of secondary trauma exposure among those in contact with primary victims and is increasingly documented in the psychological literature. Given women's increased risk for development of secondary trauma, consideration of the prevalence of sexual violence becomes significant in understanding the extent of this exposure. Sexual violence against women remains a critical social issue as the frequency of sexual coercion, intimate violence, and rape impacts vast numbers of women each year. Crimes of sexual assault encompass actual or threatened physical force and the use of weapons, intimidation, or coercion that may or may not result in rape. Quantitative findings revealed that the sample of women displayed markers of secondary trauma consistent with disturbances in relatedness and identity at significantly higher rates than they displayed behavioral symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress syndrome.
