Restoring Soul – Part 1

This report provides an overview of the four research reports of the sexual violence research project ‘Strong and Safe Communities – Effective Interventions for Adult Victim/Survivors of Sexual Violence’:

• Responding to sexual violence: A review of literature on good practice (Mossman et al., 2009a)
• Responding to sexual violence: Attrition in the New Zealand criminal justice system (Triggs et al., 2009)
• Responding to sexual violence: Environmental scan of New Zealand agencies (Mossman et al., 2009b)
• Responding to sexual violence: Pathways to recovery (Kingi and Jordan, 2009).

Disclaimer

This report cites research that was commissioned by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in the report are intended to inform and stimulate wider debate. They do not represent government policy.

Published in October 2009

Return to Responding to sexual violence research reports

Contents

Acknowledgements
Executive summary 

1 Introduction 
1.1 Purpose and scope of the report 
1.2 Terminology
1.3 Why sexual violence is an important issue for New Zealand
1.4 Objective and scope of the project
1.5 Systems approach to sexual violence
1.6 What the project could and could not address 

2 Nature and impacts of sexual violence
2.1 Introduction 
2.2 Who is most likely to be raped? 
2.3 Common characteristics and dynamics of sexual offences
2.4 Impacts of sexual violence
2.5 Overlapping vulnerability factors 
2.6 Summary 

3 Informal support systems

4 Criminal justice system

5 Formal support systems

6 What works? Effective interventions for adult survivors of sexual violence

7 Conclusion

Appendices

References

List of Tables

Table 1: Characteristics of survivors in the pathways and attrition studies 
Table 2: Nature and dynamics of sexual offences 
Table 3: Service providers’ perceptions of survivors’ additional needs 

List of Figures

Figure 1: Sexual violence prevention and response system

List of Boxes

Box 1: Lani’s story

Acknowledgements

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs is grateful for the support and contribution of its project partners, the Ministry of Justice and the New Zealand Police.

We are also grateful to the other members of the project steering group for their guidance – the Secretariat of the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence, the Accident Compensation Corporation, the Ministry of Health, Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs.

Our thanks go to the members of the project advisory group for their input on research processes, contractor selection, liaison with non-governmental organisations and review of draft reports. Members of the group came from the Ministry of Justice,  New Zealand Police, the Secretariat of the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence, the Accident Compensation Corporation, Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, the Ministry of Social Development, Te Ohaakii a Hine – National Network Ending Sexual Violence Together (TOAH-NNEST) and the National Collective of Rape Crisis.

We thank the Ministry of Justice, New Zealand Police, Secretariat of the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence, Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs and Accident Compensation Corporation for comments on drafts of this report.

We also wish to thank:

researchers from the Crime and Justice Research Centre and Institute of Criminology, Victoria University of Wellington, for their professionalism and dedication

• the independent experts who reviewed the four research reports: Professor Rachel Jewkes, Professor Liz Kelly, Liz Olle and Professor Betsy Stanko
• the Secretariat of the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence, Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Social Development and TOAH-NNEST for access to stocktakes of tauiwi and Māori services for victim/survivors of sexual violence
• TOAH-NNEST and the National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges for helping to recruit participants
•  representatives of Māori, Pacific, Ethnic communities and people with disabilities for their participation in workshops at the beginning of the project
•  community stakeholders who sent us support and good wishes through emails, letters and phone calls
•  participants in the environmental scan, who took time from their busy schedules to complete surveys.

Finally, we are deeply grateful to the survivors who had the strength and courage to talk about their experiences of recovering from sexual violence. Their stories are at the core of all we have learned during this project.

Executive summary

Introduction

Purpose and scope of the report
Restoring Soul: Effective Interventions for Adult Victim/Survivors of Sexual Violence is the overview report resulting from a two-year research project led by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in partnership with the Ministry of Justice and New Zealand Police.
The report integrates the findings and identifies major themes that emerged from four interrelated research streams. It considers the implications from a research perspective. The focus is on ‘what works’ for adult survivors of sexual violence.

In this report:

• an ‘adult’ is defined as a person aged 16 years or older at the time of the assault
•  ‘sexual violence’ refers to rape and unlawful sexual connection
•  ‘victim/survivor’ is used interchangeably with ‘victim’ and ‘survivor’
• ‘perpetrator’ refers to an individual who engages in sexual violence; for cases that enter the criminal justice system we refer to the ‘accused’, ‘suspect’ or ‘defendant’.

Objective and scope of the project
The objective of the project was to generate data that:

• identify ways of improving the safety and well-being of adult survivors of sexual violence
• provide a strong evidence base for policy and operational responses.

The research had a particular focus on groups with the highest prevalence of sexual victimisation: New Zealand European, Māori and young women.

Evidence base: four interrelated research streams
Four complementary research streams, using quantitative and qualitative methods, were developed to answer the key questions guiding the research.

Responding to sexual violence: Pathways to recovery (the pathways study – Kingi and Jordan, 2009) provides in-depth information on the types of supports and interventions that helped survivors move from crisis towards recovery. It involved face-to-face interviews with 58 survivors and 17 self-completed questionnaires. The study focused on their experiences with informal support systems (for example, family, whānau and friends), formal support systems (for example, counselling, medical services and victim services), and the criminal justice system. It did not examine the clinical effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.

Responding to sexual violence: Environmental scan of New Zealand agencies (the environmental scan – Mossman et al., 2009a) provides information on organisational and contextual factors that influenced system and agency responses to survivors. Tailored surveys were completed by 458 criminal justice personnel and community agencies that respond to survivors across New Zealand.

Responding to sexual violence: Attrition in the New Zealand criminal justice system (the attrition study – Triggs et al., 2009) is the first New Zealand study of its kind. It presents a statistical analysis of attrition and conviction rates, and factors associated with case outcomes, for 1,955 police files coded as sexual violation of an adult. It included all such offences recorded by the New Zealand Police from July 2005 to December 2007. In this research, ‘attrition’ refers to the proportion and types of cases that did not proceed through successive stages of the criminal justice system.

Responding to sexual violence: A review of literature on good practice (the literature review – Mossman et al., 2009a) looks at New Zealand and international literature dealing with the types of services and principles of service delivery that are recognised by experts in the field as good practice for medical, mental health, criminal justice, and community support systems that deal with adult survivors of sexual violence. It provides a basis for assessing the applicability of different practices for the New Zealand context. However, there was little literature on the clinical effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.

Report takes a systems approach to sexual violence
The report takes a systems approach to sexual violence. This approach shows the need to keep the big picture in mind. To reduce the incidence and impact of sexual violence, the overall system must both prevent and respond to sexual violence. To have the greatest impact, responses must be comprehensive, co ordinated and span multiple spheres. The project focused on three systems that are most likely to respond to victim/survivors of sexual violence: informal support systems, the criminal justice system, and formal support systems, such as services to aid recovery.

Informal support systems
The pathways study confirmed that informal support systems are potentially an important source of immediate and ongoing help following sexual violence. Survivors often needed validation, support and help to decide what to do next. Some members of informal support systems were able to respond to the survivors’ needs and helped them access formal help. Others were less equipped to deal with disclosures, even if they wanted to help. They often did not understand the nature and dynamics of sexual violence, or have information or knowledge to give survivors the help they needed. Some were themselves traumatised by exposure to survivors’ distress.

Criminal justice system
The findings of the attrition study are consistent with other international studies that have shown similar points and patterns of attrition, and similar factors associated with attrition. Only a small proportion of cases recorded by the police result in a conviction: those involving people who are most likely to be victimised are least likely to proceed through the criminal justice process or to end in a conviction.

Formal support systems
Access to high quality and culturally appropriate services is essential for meeting survivors’ crisis and longer-term needs and for promoting recovery. Results from the environmental scan drew attention to the limitations of existing services in meeting the needs of Pākehā survivors, as well as survivors from diverse social and cultural groups. In particular, service providers indicated that the following groups of survivors might experience the most difficulty in having their needs met: Ethnic communities; Pacific peoples; people with disabilities; Māori; men; and sex-workers.

Key findings and suggestions for the future

Repeat sexual victimisation
One group of survivors – those with a history of repeat sexual victimisation – is particularly vulnerable to sexual violence and has high and complex needs. The pathways study showed a history of repeat sexual victimisation, often beginning at a young age, was frequently associated with other forms of violent victimisation and the presence of other risk factors, such as disability or alcohol or other drug use. Many of these survivors had prior social or intimate relationships with their attackers. There would be value in determining how many survivors might be victims of repeat sexual victimisation. Crime victimisation surveys suggest that at least a quarter experience more than one incident.

Implications for the criminal justice system
Cases involving victims from these vulnerable groups, if reported to the police, are least likely to proceed through the criminal justice system and result in conviction.

Despite high attrition and low conviction rates, the criminal justice system remains an important avenue of redress for some victims. More information is needed about what motivates or enables survivors to report to police and what they hope to achieve from the criminal justice system. Related to that is the need to appreciate their understandings of ‘justice’ and how they can be helped to achieve it.

Implications for the formal support system
The research results highlighted the value survivors placed on expert interventions in promoting recovery, particularly counselling and specialist sexual violence services. They also valued culturally appropriate and accessible services.

Early and ongoing intervention seems to play a substantial role in restoring survivors’ well-being and promoting recovery. Early intervention could also, therefore, prevent repeat sexual victimisation, but little attention has been given internationally to designing and testing evidence-based programmes aimed at reducing repeat sexual victimisation.

The responses of a wide range of formal systems are crucial to ensuring the well-being of survivors. A range of services and settings could be critical points for intervening and responding to sexual violence, and potentially preventing repeat sexual victimisation. However, there is little information on whether survivors actually disclose the cause of their symptoms to health or social service providers, or whether health professionals are trained or experienced enough to discuss the possibility of sexual violation with them.

Informal support systems
Informal social networks are often the first potential point for ensuring early and appropriate interventions through formal support systems and the criminal justice system. Survivors who disclose to a friend, a family or whānau member, or someone else they know, cannot be guaranteed a supportive response. Rape myths and victim-blaming often underpin negative responses. People who want to help might not know how to respond, or where survivors could find help. Impacts such as division among social networks, or loved ones being traumatised through exposure to the survivor’s distress, can add to survivors’ suffering.

There are particular gaps in knowledge about outcomes for survivors who try, but are unable, to find appropriate help. We know that some survivors experience pressure from informal networks to keep silent or put up with a partner’s sexual violence. We do not know enough about the long-term impact on these survivors or the flow-on effects to their families, whānau and the wider society.

Achievements of the project and suggestions for the future
This project has engaged with a wide range of individuals and agencies from across New Zealand. It has delivered new, comprehensive and robust evidence to inform policy and operational responses for improving the safety and well being of adult victim/survivors of sexual violence.

The findings from the four research streams have provided clarity around some issues, and have brought other questions and issues to the fore. In some respects, the project has only scratched the surface of knowledge gaps, partly because sexual violence has been under-researched in New Zealand for some decades.

Reducing the incidence and impact of repeat and multiple forms of violence might go a long way to addressing both the incidence and costs of sexual violence. Internationally little attention has been given to designing and testing interventions to prevent repeat sexual victimisation.

The research has gathered some information on Māori, Pacific and other diverse groups of survivors. As much as anything else, this information highlights what we do not know – but need to know – to build a sexual violence response system that could work for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

The attrition study has provided baseline data for New Zealand and a methodology that can be replicated. Repeating the study at systematic intervals could be used to note changes in the numbers and types of cases recorded by police and systematic differences in cases that proceed or do not proceed through the criminal justice process, and to gauge trends in conviction rates.

1 Introduction

1.1 Purpose and scope of the report

This report presents key findings from the two-year project ‘Strong and Safe Communities – Effective Interventions for Adult Victim/Survivors of Sexual Violence’. The project was led by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in partnership with the Ministry of Justice and New Zealand Police. Background information on the project is in Appendix A.

The report identifies major themes that emerged from four interrelated research streams that were designed to generate strong evidence-based findings on which to base policy development and interventions. It integrates findings related to these themes and considers the implications from a research perspective. It does not attempt to summarise or present all of the findings, nor does it consider the policy and operational implications of the research. The four research reports with full findings will be available to relevant agencies, and they will be able to determine how best to use the results.

Consistent with the project objectives, the major focus of this report is on ‘what works’ for adult victim/survivors of sexual violence. The four research reports contain additional information on barriers to help and recovery.
This chapter outlines the objective and scope of the project, including the key questions that guided the research. It describes the four research streams that provide the evidence base, the analytical framework used to integrate the data, and the structure of the remaining chapters.

1.2 Terminology

In this project, an ‘adult’ was defined as a person aged 16 years or older at the time of the assault. Some victim/survivors of adult sexual violence are also survivors of childhood sexual abuse, but this was beyond the project’s scope.

‘Sexual violence’ (or sexual assault) is a broad term that covers a continuum of behaviours. The project focused on sexual offences at the more serious end of the continuum. It adopted the definition of sexual violation in section 128 of the Crimes Act 1961, which covers rape and unlawful sexual connection.

The term ‘victim/survivor’ is used interchangeably with the terms ‘victim’ and ‘survivor’. This terminology reflects that not all people who are raped assume the victim label, with its negative connotations. At the same time, ‘survival is neither assured nor necessarily immediately apparent: some women may always deem it a ‘work in progress’ (Mossman et al., 2009b: 7).

In most of this report, we use the term ‘perpetrator’ to refer to an individual who commits sexual violence. When discussing findings for cases that entered the criminal justice system, we refer to ‘the accused’, ‘suspect’ or ‘defendant’.

1.3 Why sexual violence is an important issue for New Zealand

Sexual violence is a serious crime and an infringement of human rights. It is also a global public health problem that exacts enormous direct and indirect costs from victim/survivors, their social networks and the wider community.

Sexual violence is a widespread problem
Research and official statistics are known to underestimate the extent of sexual violence. Even so, 19 percent of women and 5 percent of men surveyed in the 2001 New Zealand National Survey of Crime Victims (Morris et al., 2003) said they had experienced sexual interference or assault at some time in their lives. Rates were higher still for young women and Māori women. Most sexual offences were committed by people known to the victims.

Sexual violence is a serious, but under-reported crime
Sexual violation is regarded by criminal justice agencies as second only in seriousness to murder (May et al., 2007). The most recent New Zealand estimate is that only 9 percent of sexual offences are brought to the attention of police (Mayhew and Reilly, 2007). This makes it the least likely crime to be reported. Under-reporting of this magnitude has broad implications for crime prevention and the criminal justice system, particularly as offenders are less likely to be held to account and may offend again.

Relatively few sexual offenders are held to account
Overseas research has shown that sexual offences that are reported to police have high rates of attrition (that is, a high proportion fail to proceed through successive stages of the criminal justice system) and low rates of conviction (Metropolitan Police Service, 2005). Some of this attrition is avoidable. Research has also pointed to systematic differences in the types of cases that are more likely to proceed to trial and result in a conviction and those that are less likely to achieve these outcomes. In particular, cases involving vulnerable victims are least likely to result in convictions (Metropolitan Police Service, 2007). As a result, the criminal justice system has been criticised for failing to prosecute sexual violence effectively (Kelly and Regan, 2001). Attrition and conviction rates for New Zealand were unknown before this project.

Survivors can experience criminal justice processes as ‘a second rape’
Victim/survivors who seek legal redress for sexual violence can be revictimised during the legal process. The community has become aware of the trauma of being involved in a rape trial through media reporting, and this knowledge can contribute to under-reporting and attrition (Konradi, 1996). Survivors’ fear of disbelief and of having their character and credibility destroyed in court can be powerful disincentives to reporting to police or continuing through the criminal justice process.

Sexual violence burdens the economy and public resources
Sexual violence is one of the smallest categories of recorded crime, but at an estimated cost of $1.2 billion per year, it is the most costly crime to the New Zealand economy (Roper and Thompson, 2004). It can have widespread and long-lasting effects on all domains of survivors’ lives. Many seek help from family and friends to deal with the impact. Others contact professional services, such as doctors or specialist sexual violence services. Internationally, there are major gaps in knowledge about survivors’ decisions to seek help, key intervention points, and the effectiveness of different interventions for promoting well-being and recovery.

1.4 Objective and scope of the project

This project is the first government-funded research of its kind since the 1980s. It was formulated to respond to gaps in knowledge about the issues outlined above. In particular, it was designed to provide an evidence base for policy development by justice and social sector agencies that respond to victims of sexual violence. The objective of the project was to generate New Zealand–based primary data that:

• identify ways of improving the safety and well-being of adult victim/survivors of sexual violence
•  provide a strong evidence base for policy and operational responses.

The research had a particular focus on groups with the highest prevalence of sexual victimisation. These are predominantly women, particularly young, Māori and New Zealand European women. It also considered, where possible, the effects of sexual violence on survivors’ families, whānau and wider networks.

Key research questions
A number of key questions guided the project.

• What are the key points and reasons why cases involving sexual violations against adults enter the criminal justice system?
•  For cases that are recorded by police but do not proceed through the criminal justice system, what are the key points and reasons why they do not proceed?
•  What is the basis for survivors’ decisions to access non-criminal justice services, such as counselling or other support? What are their pathways to healing and recovery?
•  What are the key points at which different types of intervention and support are most effective? What works to promote recovery and well-being?

Four complementary research streams were developed to answer these questions.

Evidence base: four interrelated research streams
Researchers from the Crime and Justice Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington were contracted to carry out the four research streams.

Responding to Sexual Violence: Pathways to Recovery
In the aftermath of sexual violence, victim/survivors may seek help from different support systems. Informal support systems include friends, family, whānau and social networks. Formal support systems include government and non-government agencies from the police, social services and medical providers to counsellors, specialist sexual violence services and refuges. There has been relatively little research on the ways in which adult victim/survivors come to seek and receive help, or on what is most effective in promoting their longer-term recovery.

Responding to Sexual Violence: Pathways to Recovery (the pathways study – Kingi and Jordan, 2009) provides in-depth information on the types of supports and interventions that helped a group of survivors move from crisis towards recovery and well-being. The study focused on survivors’ experiences with informal and formal support systems, including the criminal justice system. The study’s two components were:

• in-depth, face-to-face interviews with 58 victim/survivors to explore their help-seeking and pathways to recovery.
• 17 anonymous, self-completed surveys based on the interview schedules.

Participants in this study had to have:

• been 16 years or older when the assault occurred
• disclosed the assault to a formal support agency since 2000
• had the legal process completed in their case, if they reported the assault to police.

Appendix C outlines the socio-demographic profile of the participants.

Because the participants were selected with the preceding criteria in mind, the sample does not represent all adult survivors of sexual violence in New Zealand. Participation was voluntary, so the findings could reflect a self-selection bias: survivors who participated might have done so because their experiences differed in some way from those who did not take part. In addition, most participants were recruited through specialist sexual violence services or refuges. This introduced an additional layer of filtering, because service providers made decisions about which clients might be willing and able to take part in the research. All participants had disclosed to either an informal or formal support source. Dealing with people who had not disclosed their experience to anyone was beyond the scope of this research.

Responding to Sexual Violence: Environmental Scan of New Zealand Agencies
High-quality services are an integral component of efforts to meet the crisis and longer-term needs of victim/survivors of sexual violence, to minimise the harm experienced and to promote safety and well-being.

Responding to Sexual Violence: Environmental Scan of New Zealand Agencies (the environmental scan – Mossman et al., 2009a) provides information on organisational and contextual factors that influence systems and agency responses to victim/survivors. This is the first such scan to be conducted in New Zealand. The results help us to understand the variety of agencies that respond to victim/survivors, the types of services they provide, and any constraints to service provision. The environmental scan also surveyed criminal justice personnel on their views about factors that contribute to attrition of adult sexual violation cases.

The environmental scan comprised tailored surveys distributed to criminal justice and community agencies that respond to victim/survivors across New Zealand. Responses were received from 458 agencies and individuals (see Appendix D).

Participation in the study was voluntary and response rates varied across the agencies. The views of those who completed and returned the surveys might not be typical of everyone within a particular agency or sector. The participants might have been motivated to complete the survey by the strength and nature of their views, either positive or negative. Response rates for Māori service providers were low, partly because the postal survey method was not appropriate for Māori.

Responding to Sexual Violence: Attrition in the New Zealand Criminal Justice System
Responding to Sexual Violence: Attrition in the New Zealand Criminal Justice System (the attrition study – Triggs et al., 2009) is the first New Zealand research of its kind. The main aim of this study was to assess the proportion and types of adult sexual violation cases recorded by the New Zealand Police that did not proceed through successive stages of the criminal justice process. Understanding the rate of and reasons for attrition at each stage is a crucial first step towards minimising attrition, ensuring sex offenders are held accountable, and improving outcomes for victim/survivors and society.

The attrition report presents a statistical analysis of attrition and conviction rates, as well as factors associated with case outcomes, from a sample of 1,955 police files coded as sexual violation of an adult. The report included all such offences recorded by the New Zealand Police from July 2005 to December 2007, and is one of the largest samples of any attrition study. The study also described the characteristics of victim/survivors, suspects and offences in the sample.

Responding to Sexual Violence: A Review of Literature on Good Practice
Many systems are involved in effectively responding to the needs of victim/survivors of sexual violence. Formal systems include the medical, mental health and criminal justice systems, as well as other support systems, such as specialist sexual violence services and women’s refuges, which are often community based.

Responding to Sexual Violence: A Review of Literature on Good Practice (the literature review – Mossman et al., 2009a) looked at New Zealand and international literature that identified the types of services and principles of service delivery that are recognised as good practice for each of these systems. It did not examine evidence of therapeutic or clinical effectiveness of interventions.

Much of the good practice identified in the literature review was based on overseas literature. The information provides a basis for assessing the applicability and feasibility of overseas practices before they are implemented in New Zealand.

Assessing the robustness and generalisability of the findings
The four research streams provide up-to-date and robust information for New Zealand. Some data are new and other data confirm previously unsupported assumptions. Some of the research streams have non-random samples and the results should not be generalised. However, this does not mean the results are not valid, reliable or robust. The quality, wider applicability and robustness of the findings can be judged on four criteria: triangulation, expert peer review, consistency with previous research, and proximal similarity.

Triangulation
Triangulation is the use of different methods and data sources to overcome the weaknesses or intrinsic biases that can arise from using a single method or data source. The research streams used a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods to generate data from different sources. The ability to cross-check findings from the research streams maximises the reliability and validity of the findings. In particular, the findings had a good degree of convergence, as shown by the emergence of strong themes across the four reports.

Expert peer review
The research reports were independently reviewed by international experts. Their input ensured the reports were technically sound, of a high quality, and consistent with or adding value to current knowledge. They focused on the content and merit of the reports, including the suitability of analytical approaches, the rigour of analytical thinking, and synthesis of material from different sources.

The project advisory group also reviewed the reports, paying particular attention to the accuracy and relevance of information specific to New Zealand.

Consistency with previous research
The findings from the research streams are consistent with similar international research. This adds to confidence in their validity and reliability. Where relevant, in this report we demonstrate this by contextualising the findings within selected overseas literature.

Proximal similarity
While the findings might not be generalisable to all victim/survivors of sexual violence or all service providers, they are likely to be applicable to other contexts that are similar to those in this research. By looking at different contexts, we can generalise the results to other people or places that are more like (that is, proximally similar to) our study. For example, the survivors in the pathways study are likely to be proximally similar to other survivors who seek help from formal agencies, particularly New Zealand European survivors who contact counsellors or ‘mainstream’ specialist sexual violence services. They might be proximally dissimilar to survivors who do not seek help for the impacts of sexual violence, or survivors who seek help from kaupapa or tikanga Māori services.

1.5 Systems approach to sexual violence

A key priority for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs is ensuring that women are healthy, resilient and safe. Reducing the incidence and impact of sexual violence is critical in achieving this goal, but this is, undeniably, a complex and intractable problem that is not amenable to quick fixes.

We take the view that the safety and health of victim/survivors of sexual violence is best understood within the network of relationships that make up their social worlds. Survivors are integral parts of those networks, and the impacts of sexual violence can ripple out to affect many people. We used a systems approach (based on an ecological model) to think about how to achieve the goal of healthy and safe individuals, families, whānau and communities. As far as we are aware, this is the first time a systems approach has been used to think about sexual violence.

A systems approach considers sexual violence-related issues within their contexts or systems and demonstrates the need to keep the big picture in mind. A system is an interrelated collection of subsystems that work together to accomplish an overall goal. To reduce the incidence and impact of sexual violence, the overall system must both prevent and respond to sexual violence. To have the greatest impact, responses must be comprehensive, co-ordinated and span multiple spheres. Therefore, we need to understand the subsystems and associated factors that allow sexual violence to happen, how to respond effectively when it does occur, and what works to prevent it.

A systems approach to interventions for sexual violence helps avoid victim blaming because it focuses on the systems or circumstances that affect survivors’ access to help. These are often outside the influence of victims.

Figure 1 shows an idealised prevention and response system for sexual violence. The model was developed in consultation with our project partners. It demonstrates that the various subsystems – both formal and informal – are not discrete, but need to be integrated to achieve desired outcomes.

Underpinning the sexual violence prevention and response system is the need to be responsive to Māori. Māori are over-represented as both victims and perpetrators of interpersonal violence. Rates of sexual victimisation are highest among Māori women and young women. Given that the median age of Māori is younger than that of the total population, this overlap in vulnerability factors is of concern, both for victim/survivors and for Māori in general, as the effects of sexual violence ripple out to whānau, friends and wider social networks. The systems approach provides a framework for considering equity issues that affect Māori survivors’ access to appropriate response services. While the goal for Māori is the same as for other ethnic groups in New Zealand, it might be achieved in a different way. This might also be the case for other population groups, such as Pacific peoples, whose world views and preferences for dealing with interpersonal violence differ from the individualistic perspective of Western systems.

Figure 1: Sexual violence prevention and response system
 

The systems approach is also consistent with a strengths-based approach to sexual violence. A strengths-based approach recognises that sexual violence has far-reaching and irrevocable effects. Rather than focusing on deficits and problems, it begins from the premise that victim/survivors have strengths and resources to draw on for their own empowerment. These strengths are both internal and environmental, and can be built up through engagement with external support systems. This project has provided information on the harms of sexual violence as well as the systemic, interpersonal and personal resources that helped or hindered survivors’ recovery. In this report the combination of the systems and strengths-based approaches provides a lens for looking at what works to promote survival and well-being, so as to inform the development of successful strategies for both survivors and the agencies that respond to them.

Structure of the report
The systems approach has guided our analysis and presentation of the research findings in this report. The project focused on the three subsystems most likely to come into play after sexual violence has occurred:

• the criminal justice system
•  formal systems, such as victim services or heath services, which may provide immediate and/or ongoing support
•  informal support systems, such as family, whānau, friends and other social support networks, which may also provide immediate and/or ongoing support.

We used the framework to conduct a thematic analysis of the research findings across the relevant systems. Several consistent findings or themes relating to these systems emerged from the four reports. They have been grouped together in six chapters.

Chapter 2 examines the nature and impact of sexual violence. It looks at the characteristics of victim/survivors and offences described in the pathways study and attrition study. Particular factors that are known to heighten the risk of sexual victimisation were evident in both samples.

Chapter 3 deals with disclosures of sexual violence by victim/survivors to informal support systems. It considers survivors’ reasons for disclosing, other people’s reactions to disclosures, and the impact of their responses on survivors.

Chapter 4 looks at aspects of the criminal justice system. It highlights points at which and reasons why victim/survivors report to police, as well as points at which and reasons why cases fail to proceed through the successive stages of the criminal justice process. This chapter provides new information on attrition and conviction rates for adult sexual violation cases in New Zealand.

Chapter 5 describes the basis for and pathways through which survivors accessed help from formal support systems, particularly specialist sexual violence services. It also discusses wider issues facing those services.

Chapter 6 outlines ‘what works’ to promote healing and recovery. It briefly considers key points at which different types of interventions are most effective. It also examines the concept of good practice in service delivery, including good principles of service delivery.

Chapter 7 draws together the overarching themes that emerged from the four research streams. It considers their implications for the sexual violence response system and concludes with a brief appraisal of the project’s achievements and suggestions for the future.

1.6 What the project could and could not address

The timing of the project – concurrent with the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence and coming after a long period in which sexual violence had been under-researched – meant there were high expectations of what it would achieve. It was an ambitious project from the outset, not least because of its broad remit and limited time-frame. All things considered, it has delivered high quality reports and compelling findings. One area where the constraints of the project are obvious is in its coverage of issues for Māori and other population groups.

From its inception, this project was premised on Western understandings of sexual violence and how research is done. Allowances were not made for the additional resources (people, time and money) required to implement kaupapa Māori research processes; to access groups that are only just beginning to talk about sexual violence, such as Pacific women; or to collect data on under researched groups, such as people with disabilities or men.

Despite these constraints, we included the groups discussed above in any way possible, even if their numbers were small. At the beginning of the project, we held hui with diverse groups, to better understand their views on the topic and the likely obstacles we might encounter during the project. The researchers worked hard to recruit survivors from different population groups and present whatever information was available. Because the numbers of participants from diverse groups were often small, this report does not always include information about them. We refer interested readers to the four research reports.

Where possible, this report specifically addresses issues for Māori victim/survivors of sexual violence. However, the results generally showed little difference on the basis of ethnicity. We acknowledge that this is at least partly attributable to the research approach. At the same time, this could also indicate that survivors from diverse ethnic and social groups are likely to experience comparable impacts, although they might manifest and be interpreted in culturally-specific ways. In either event, when Māori views are presented, they should not be interpreted as representative of all Māori.

2 Nature and impacts of sexual violence

2.1 Introduction

Not all people are at equal risk of sexual violence. An effective response system must be premised on an understanding of who is most likely to be raped, the nature and dynamics of sexual violence, and its impact on survivors. The pathways and attrition studies provided information on these factors.

In this chapter, information from the pathways and attrition studies is given context within the wider international literature on the risks for and nature of sexual violence. This provides a basis for assessing what we can reliably infer from the data. In later sections of the chapter, we describe some of the impacts of sexual violence on survivors, and examine the implications for survivors when several vulnerability factors overlap.

2.2 Who is most likely to be raped?

While the samples in the pathways and attrition studies are not representative of all survivors of sexual violence, the findings mirror well-established data from previous New Zealand and international population-based surveys. They show that the risk for sexual violence varies according to a relatively predictable range of personal and socio-demographic factors such as gender, age and relationship to the perpetrator (Mayhew and Reilly, 2007; Morris et al., 2003; Mouzos and Makkai, 2004; Tjaden and Thoennes, 2006). The findings outlined in Table 1 are described more fully in Appendix E.

This is not necessarily a complete list of risk factors and research methods can obscure the extent of sexual violence in some groups. Surveys often show that rates of sexual violence against Pacific women are lower than rates for Māori and New Zealand European women. Researchers from New Zealand and the United States have suggested that this might reflect Pacific women’s reluctance to define their experiences as sexual violence or to disclose to a researcher, rather than a real difference (Morris et al., 2003; Tjaden and Thoennes, 2000). This might also be the case for groups whose experiences are less likely to be captured in population surveys, due to language barriers, disability or residential situations that exclude them from survey samples.

Taken together, the findings show a confluence of vulnerability factors for at least some survivors in these samples.

• Most survivors had histories of repeat sexual victimisation, sometimes beginning in childhood. This included all Māori in the pathways study.
•  Many had experienced other forms of violent victimisation, such as intimate partner violence or violence perpetrated by family and whānau.
• The incidence of repeat sexual violence was higher for those who experienced intimate partner violence than for those assaulted by a family or whānau member.
•  The association between sexual violence and disability was clear, but we do not know how often disability preceded or was a consequence of sexual violence.

Table 1: Characteristics of survivors in the pathways and attrition studies

1. Source: Kingi and Jordan. (2009).
2. Source: Triggs et al. (2009).

2.3 Common characteristics and dynamics of sexual offences

Previous research has also shown that the nature and dynamics of sexual offences often diverge from the stereotypical view of ‘real rape’ (that is, rape by a stranger, in a dark alley, involving physical force and resulting in injury). Table 2 summarises results from the current research alongside previous findings. The findings are outlined more fully in Appendix F.

The information in Tables 1 and 2 shows how sexual violence is facilitated by social patterns of interaction. All too often, it also reflects the split between the public and private domains.

Young women’s increased risk of sexual violence from strangers and men they have just met may be at least partially explained by the fact young women tend to socialise with men of a similar age. Young men are more likely to perpetrate sexual offences than older men are. In addition, young women’s routine activities are often oriented towards the public domain – they go out socially and to work, school or university. This potentially makes them targets for motivated offenders, including strangers and new acquaintances.

On the other hand, the sexual violation of older women (and children) is often facilitated by the privacy of the home and family. Increasing awareness of the repetitive nature of sexual offending by perpetrators with whom the victim has a relationship – and its co-existence with other forms of violence – has led some researchers to question the notion of the home as a safe haven (Bennett, Manderson and Astbury, 2000). Women and children in violent households might have shelter, but they do not have a place where they can feel psychologically or physically safe and secure.

I had finally decided to leave him before he killed me. And I knew that I would probably have to fight him in court for my kids. It was time for me to stand up and not just accept this as part of my life. (Kingi and Jordan, 2009: 51)

Table 2: Nature and dynamics of sexual offences

1. Source: Kingi and Jordan (2009).
2. Source: Triggs et al. (2009).

2.4 Impacts of sexual violence

Almost all of the interviewees in the pathways study said that sexual violence had a major impact on some or all domains of their lives. The effects are not confined to survivors, but ripple out to family, whānau and friends. The following section summarises the major impacts on survivors as individuals. Impacts on others are dealt with in chapter 3.

Major impacts

Life overall
Many survivors said that sexual violence affected every aspect of their lives and well-being: they felt their lives had been ruined. For some, it led to a dependence on alcohol or other drugs as a way of managing the effects. Others said it left them vulnerable to later sexual and physical assault, including entering into relationships with men who abused them.

Mental and emotional health
The most frequently mentioned emotional impact was related to fear and anxiety levels. For some, this meant generalised feelings of fear and anxiety; for others it related to specific fears, such as fear of the perpetrator returning. Other impacts included depression; flashbacks to the sexual violence that impeded the survivor’s ability to sustain intimate relationships; anger, dissociation and self-harming behaviours; and symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Intimacy and relationships
For some women, sexual violence led to a loss of trust in men. This affected their willingness to interact socially and eroded their ability to enter into and maintain relationships. Some survivors spoke about their subsequent confusion around sexuality and engagement in risky sexual behaviours. Feelings around loss of safety sometimes extended into a general discomfort about being touched by anyone, which affected everyday relationships and communication.

Behavioural impacts and flow-on effects
Sexual violence resulted in major behavioural changes for some survivors. This included disruptions to work and study patterns, such as loss of motivation or reduced concentration. A limited ability to work affected some survivors’ financial status, to the point where they found themselves in ‘dire financial circumstances’. Others used work as a distraction, becoming almost workaholic as a way of escaping their feelings.

Cognitive impacts
Sexual violence had a major impact on the way survivors thought about themselves. This included a loss of self-esteem and confidence, or an increase in self-doubt, self-blame and self-hatred.

Personal and social impacts
Changes in personality were common, particularly in relation to social interactions. Many survivors withdrew socially, becoming isolated and reclusive and unable to sustain a social life. Some spoke of the pain of being alone, as if no one understood or was there for them. Others tried to project an outer confidence, while simultaneously burying their feelings and closing up inside.

Physical impacts
Physical impacts included disruptions to sleep, such as insomnia and nightmares and physical ailments, such as migraines, auto-immune diseases, gynaecological and digestive problems, and eating problems.

Concept of ‘shame’ as it relates to Māori and other ethnic groups
Survivors from all ethnic groups are likely to experience comparable emotional, mental, behavioural and health impacts. English words are commonly used to describe these impacts, but while these terms might have roughly similar meanings to words from other languages, they often cannot convey the nuances of concepts as understood by people from other ethnic groups.

Shame and embarrassment are well-known impacts of sexual violence. In English, shame has psychological connotations. While it has some overlap with the Māori ‘whakamā’, the two concepts are quite distinct.

For Māori, experiencing whakamā is more than feeling a sense of shame or embarrassment; it reduces the individual’s mana and impacts on an individual’s sense of worth by affecting every aspect of her/his life. Whakamā affects victims’/survivors’ health and well-being by negatively impacting on their tinana (physical dimension); hinengaro (mental and emotional dimension); wairua (spiritual dimension); and whānau (whakapapa or family dimension), which also includes their living circumstances. (Kingi and Jordan, 2009: 158-159)

Similarly, for women from other ethnic groups, shame may extend well beyond a feeling of personal embarrassment or debasement. In some Ethnic communities, women’s honour is connected with the body. Speaking out about sexual violence can result in a loss of personal, family and even community honour (Lievore, 2005).

High and complex needs
In the environmental scan, service providers were asked to identify their core services, and to indicate whether survivors who contacted their agencies had any of 11 additional service needs. Table 3 indicates that some victim/survivors of sexual assault have high and complex health and social support needs.
Survey respondents identified service availability as a barrier to meeting the needs of victim/survivors, particularly in relation to immigration issues, language translation and accommodation.

Table 3: Service providers’ perceptions of survivors’ additional needs

Source: Mossman et al. (2009b: 36).

There is a wider systemic issue here, as not all survivors have access to equitable levels of service. For example, the 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey (Ministry of Health, 2008) showed there were large disparities in outcomes for Māori, Pacific, and people living in neighbourhoods of high socioeconomic deprivation, compared to those living in areas of low socioeconomic deprivation. For example, Māori women and women living in neighbourhoods of high deprivation were significantly more likely than the total population and men, respectively, to say they had not been able to see a general practitioner within 24 hours when they wanted to. This raises the question of how well formal services are able to respond to survivors’ more specific needs if there is such inequity of access at these basic levels.

Repeat sexual victimisation of concern
Repeat sexual victimisation is an area of considerable concern, particularly because it is often associated with other vulnerability factors. It could be a crucial factor in understanding which victim/survivors are likely to have high and complex medical, mental health, and social needs.

2.5 Overlapping vulnerability factors

Taken together, these findings highlight a particular pattern of vulnerability that applies to at least some survivors. Out of this pattern, repeat victimisation emerges as a substantial issue for consideration.

Sexual assault has one of the highest revictimisation rates of any crimes. Women who have been sexually assaulted in childhood, adolescence or adulthood are at a much greater risk of being sexually assaulted as adults than women who have never been sexually assaulted. Research suggests several psychological processes initiated by sexual victimisation can result in circumstances and behaviours that increase survivors’ exposure and vulnerability to perpetrators (Davis et al., 2006).

Girls and women who have been sexually violated are more likely to engage in ‘risky’ behaviours such as alcohol or other drug use, which again heightens their vulnerability to sexual victimisation. Alcohol and other drug misuse is often co morbid with psychiatric conditions that may precede or be a consequence of sexual violence.

It is also clear that at least some women are subject to multiple forms of violence within family and intimate relationships. As adults, these women might enter into relationships where sexual and physical violence is present. They might put up with the violence for a variety of reasons: because they regard it as a normal part of relationships; because they are unable to name what is happening to them; because sexual violence can have crippling effects on their self-esteem, confidence and will; or because the potential consequences of naming their partner as a perpetrator outweigh the benefits.

Women’s ability to form and maintain relationships can be impaired as a result of sexual violence. This can extend to parenting skills. Children who grow up witnessing violence can experience negative emotional and behavioural impacts and some reproduce the intergenerational cycle of violence.

An excerpt from a case study in the pathways report shows how this pattern can evolve over a survivor’s lifetime (see Box 1).

Box 1: Lani’s story

Source: Excerpt from Kingi and Jordan (2009: 28-30).

2.6 Summary

These findings suggest that repeat sexual victimisation could be a crucial factor in understanding which survivors are likely to have high and complex medical, mental health and social needs that need to be addressed. The 2006 New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey found that a quarter of respondents who had been sexually victimised said it had happened twice. This is reflected in the incidence of sexual violence (or the number of incidents per 100 people): while 4 percent of women said they had been sexually victimised in the previous year, the incidence was over twice that, at 9 percent (Mayhew and Reilly, 2007). An Australian survey found that over half of all sexual offences in the previous year were accounted for by less than a third of respondents who were sexually victimised (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999).

These survivors could be carrying a large proportion of the burden of sexual violence. Their needs are amenable to intervention, if they have access to appropriate formal services with the capacity to meet those needs. Reducing the incidence and impact of repeat and multiple forms of violence might go a long way to addressing both the incidence and costs of sexual violence, provided we understand how to prevent repeat victimisation. While some services and treatments are available to help survivors recover from the impacts of sexual violence, internationally little attention has been given to designing and testing interventions to prevent repeat sexual victimisation.

Published in October 2009

by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs | Minitatanga Mō Ngā Wāhine
PO Box 10 049, Wellington, New Zealand

Phone: 0064 4 915 7112
Fax: 0064 4 916 1604
Email: mwa@mwa.govt.nz
Website: www.mwa.govt.nz

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