Multiple Sexual Victimization: The Case of Incest and Marital Rape (From Family Abuse and Its Consequences: New Directions in Research, P 255-268, 1988, Gerald T Hotaling, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-114483)

• NCJ Number: 114499
• Author(s): N M Shields; C R Hanneke
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The relationship between child sexual abuse and subsequent victimization through marital rape was explored using interviews with 137 participants in a larger research project on marital rape.

Abstract

The participants included 44 women who had experienced both sexual and nonsexual violence from their partners, 48 women who had experienced only nonsexual violence, and 45 nonvictimized comparison women. The women had all been married or lived with their partners for at least 6 months and had not been separated for more than 3 years. Their average age was 31.4. The victims of marital rape were more likely than the other groups to have had sexual contact with a family member as a child. Overall, 50 percent of the raped and battered victims, 33 percent of the battered victims, and 22 percent of the comparison women experienced such contact. An unexpected finding was that the three groups had similar levels of tolerance of sexual violence against women. The data also suggested that childhood victimization impairs the victim's ability to develop a satisfying marital sexual relationship. The victim's emerging identity as sexual victim also seems to be involved in the developmental process. Nevertheless, the incest experience by itself does not always lead to further victimization. 26 references.