Understanding Disparities in Service Seeking Following Forcible Versus Drug- or Alcohol-Facilitated/Incapacitated Rape

Victims of drug- or alcohol-facilitated/incapacitated rape (DAFR/IR) are substantially less likely to seek medical, rape crisis, or police services compared with victims of forcible rape (FR); however, reasons for these disparities are poorly understood. The current study examined explanatory mechan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of interpersonal violence 2016-09, Vol.31 (14), p.2475-2491
Main Authors: Walsh, Kate, Zinzow, Heidi M., Badour, Christal L., Ruggiero, Kenneth J., Kilpatrick, Dean G., Resnick, Heidi S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Alcohol
Alcohol Drinking
Consciousness
Crime Victims - psychology
Crime Victims - statistics & numerical data
Criminal justice
Female
Females
Help-Seeking Behavior
Humans
Income
Individual Characteristics
Injuries
Medicine
Police
Public services
Race
Rape
Rape - psychology
Rape - statistics & numerical data
Social services
Victims
Victims of crime
Young Adult
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Summary:Victims of drug- or alcohol-facilitated/incapacitated rape (DAFR/IR) are substantially less likely to seek medical, rape crisis, or police services compared with victims of forcible rape (FR); however, reasons for these disparities are poorly understood. The current study examined explanatory mechanisms in the pathway from rape type (FR vs. DAFR/IR) to disparities in post-rape service seeking (medical, rape crisis, criminal justice). Participants were 445 adult women from a nationally representative household probability sample who had experienced FR, DAFR/IR, or both since age 14. Personal characteristics (age, race, income, prior rape history), rape characteristics (fear, injury, loss of consciousness), and post-rape acknowledgment, medical concerns, and service seeking were collected. An indirect effects model using bootstrapped standard errors was estimated to examine pathways from rape type to service seeking. DAFR/IR-only victims were less likely to seek services compared with FR victims despite similar post-rape medical concerns. FR victims were more likely to report fear during the rape and a prior rape history, and to acknowledge the incident as rape; each of these characteristics was positively associated with service seeking. However, only prior rape history and acknowledgment served as indirect paths to service seeking; acknowledgment was the strongest predictor of service seeking. Diminished acknowledgment of the incident as rape may be especially important to explaining why DAFR/IR victims are less likely than FR victims to seek services. Public service campaigns designed to increase awareness of rape definitions, particularly around DAFR/IR, are important to reducing disparities in rape-related service seeking.
ISSN:0886-2605
1552-6518
DOI:10.1177/0886260515576968