Reasons for Not Reporting Among Sexual Assault Survivors Who Seek Medical Forensic Exams: A Qualitative Analysis
Goodman-Williams, Rachael Volz, Jessica Fishwick, Kathryn
Goodman-Williams, Rachael
Volz, Jessica
Fishwick, Kathryn
Citations
Altmetric:
Other Names
Location
Time Period
Advisors
Original Date
Digitization Date
Issue Date
2023-11
Type
Article
Genre
Keywords
Adult victims,Intervention,Reporting/disclosure,Sexual assault
Subjects (LCSH)
Citation
Goodman-Williams, R., Volz, J., & Fishwick, K. (2023). Reasons for Not Reporting Among Sexual Assault Survivors Who Seek Medical Forensic Exams: A Qualitative Analysis. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605231211926.
Abstract
After a sexual assault, survivors have the option of seeking a medical forensic exam, which includes medical evaluation and treatment, as well as forensic evidence collection. Forensic evidence is collected in a sexual assault evidence kit (SAEK) and typically released to police to aid in the investigation and potential prosecution of the assault. However, 20% to 25% of survivors who have a SAEK collected do not report their assault to police at that time and choose instead to have their SAEK stored for possible future use. This study sought to understand the reasons for not reporting among this group of survivors. We examined medical records of 296 individuals aged 18 and older who had documented their reasons for not reporting to police in their medical record and used a non-theory-driven coding framework to conduct a reflexive thematic analysis based on that data. We identified four themes: Reporting Won't Help, Reporting Will Harm, Not Now, and Not What I'm Here For. These data illustrate that survivors are making an active choice which, for many, was based on concerns that reporting would not meaningfully help their situation or may even make their situations worse. For some survivors, the decision to have forensic evidence collected without a police report was based on their needs at that moment, whereas for other survivors it was based on their desire to move on from the assault more permanently. Practice and policy recommendations are discussed, including the importance of providing survivors information about what police reporting would look like in specific circumstances as well as ensuring that financial concerns are not a barrier to survivors receiving post-assault medical care without forensic evidence collection.
Table of Contents
Description
Click on the DOI link to access this article (may not be free).
Publisher
SAGE Publications Inc.
Journal
Book Title
Series
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Digital Collection
Finding Aid URL
Use and Reproduction
Archival Collection
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
0886-2605