Sexual Assault Among Intimates: Frequency, Consequences, and

Project Summary for Grant 2002-WG-BX-0003

The project has two goals, first to describe the frequency and consequences of sexual assault within intimate relationships specific to ethnicity and immigrant status and compare these findings to a similar group of women who have not experienced intimate partner sexual assault. The second goal is to recommend treatments for intimate partner sexual assault. Objectives include a description of the type and extent of intimate partner sexual assault, the proximal an distal consequences of sexual assault on women, children, and family functioning; individual women and family risk and protecting factors for sexual assault; the temporal sequencing of sexual asault within the context of an intimate partner violence; and treatments used by women of intimate partner sexual assault. A mixed-model analysis plan will test for significant between-group differences for women reporting sexual abuse compared to women not reporting sexual abuse, as well as within-group differences of racial/ethnic identification and immigrant status. These results will describe the extent and consequences of intimate partner sexual abuse among an urban population that comes to the Justice Department for assistance. This information can be used to design training programs for providers of justice services, as well as assistance and prevention programs for sexually abused women.

ca/ncf