Citation

Littleton H, Radecki Breitkopf C, Berenson A. Violence Against Women 2008; 14(3): 269-286.

Affiliation

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, USA

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077801207313733

PMID

18292370

Abstract

Studies of college rape victims have found that many are unacknowledged; that is, they do not label their experience rape. The current study investigated factors associated with unacknowledged rape among low-income women. Out of a sample of 1,033 women, 167 reported having experienced rape. Unacknowledged victims, relative to acknowledged victims, reported less violent assaults and more alcohol use before the assault and were more likely to have been assaulted by a romantic partner. Unacknowledged victims also disclosed less often and reported fewer feelings of stigma. Implications of the work for future studies of unacknowledged rape are discussed.

Language: en