Most individuals who experience rape do not call it “rape”; rather, they use other terms like “miscommunication”, “bad sex”, or “sexual assault”. When individuals use terms other than rape this is termed lack of rape acknowledgment or unacknowledgment. Unacknowledgment is associated with risk for repeated victimization. In Study 1, N = 439, participants were randomly assigned to a dichotomous (yes/no) or Likert response format for the rape acknowledgment item. Participants who choose non-polar, Likert responses such as “probably raped” reported less stereotypical rape experiences such as anal rape (X2 > 8.18, p <.008). In Study 2, 293 participants completed both rape and sexual assault acknowledgment items in a randomized order. Participants were 1.43 – 2.63x more likely to acknowledge sexual assault “I was sexually assaulted” than rape for victimization and 2.35 – 5.23x more likely to acknowledge sexual assault for their own perpetration behavior. Our findings suggest that using a Likert scale to measure acknowledgment may better identify those at-risk. Similarly, measuring sexual assault acknowledgment increases the number of cases identified. This may be especially helpful for identify those at risk of perpetration, as using the term sexual assault resulted in acknowledgment rates 3-8x higher than prior research.

Victims of sexual violence are often punished by the legal system when their version of the incident—or fact finders' perception of their version—violates expected sexual violence schemas. We investigated the influence of sexual violence schemas on mock jurors' ability to accurately recognize facts presented in a hypothetical case. Participants (N = 155) read a vignette depicting one of four scenarios: expectancy consistent, expectancy inconsistent, no detail control, or no crime control condition. Participants then indicated whether certain evidence (e.g., victim‐perpetrator relationship) was presented, and if so, what the correct information was. Although participants generally demonstrated accurate recognition of the case evidence, errors were more likely to be made when the vignette was inconsistent with expected sexual violence schemas. We end with a discussion of how the present research can advance our understanding of the underlying cognitive mechanisms of victim blaming and the practical implications for the legal system.

Individual acknowledgment of sexual assault and rape perpetration is extraordinarily low in prior research. Only about 1% of individuals report perpetrating rape, in contrast to the 6% perpetrating rape as estimated by using behaviorally specific items that exclude stigmatized words such as rape. The goal of this study was to examine two possible measurement mechanisms for increasing perpetration acknowledgment: label choice and response format. In Sample 1 (N = 291), participants completed two acknowledgment items which varied in label choice.One item used the term rape; one used the term sexual assault. Acknowledgment of perpetration using the label sexual assault was significantly higher than when using the term rape (6.38%−1.71%, p = .01, Cohen's d = 0.44). In Sample 2 (N = 438), participants were presented with a scaled and a dichotomous sexual assault item at different parts of the overall survey. Sexual assault acknowledgment was higher on the scaled item compared to the dichotomous item (15.75% vs. 3.2%, p < .0001, Cohen's d = 0.64). Rates of sexual perpetration as measured behaviorally were higher for ambiguous acknowledgment types ("might or might not," "probably not") than for those reporting "definitely not," (76.81% vs. 29.0%, p < .0001, Cohen's d = 0.59). The two different measurement strategies tested here, using a less stigmatized label such as sexual assault and using a scaled response format, both increased rates of perpetration acknowledgment 3-15x greater than rates documented in prior research.

Previous research has demonstrated the dramatic effect trauma can have on religiosity. This study sought to extend this understanding by examining how a specific trauma, rape, influences religious beliefs and behaviors as well as how religiosity influences acknowledgement of rape. Rape acknowledgement is the personal use of the label rape to describe such an experience. The process of acknowledgement and general recovery from rape can include dramatic questioning of one’s religious beliefs and marks an important potential point of intervention, especially given the majority of the US identifies as religious. A sample of 310 mostly Christian, college-aged women completed questionnaires about their personal religiosity, attitudes and beliefs, and trauma history. Results indicated those who experienced rape experienced significantly greater change in their religious beliefs compared to those who had experienced other types of traumas (p = .015). The relationship between rape acknowledgement and extrinsic religiosity was significantly mediated by ambivalent sexism (95% CI [.0016, .0694]) and the endorsement of rape myths about women lying about rape (95% CI [.0021, .0691]), such that high religiosity was associated with greater acceptance of these beliefs, which was associated with a lower likelihood of acknowledgement. In all, rape was shown to significantly alter one’s participation in their religion and their understanding of their own religiosity, and religious beliefs reflective of certain beliefs fueled a mislabeling of personal experiences of rape. These findings suggest religious guidance should be offered within rape recovery programming, and support for those who experience rape should be provided specifically within religious settings.

Previous research has demonstrated the dramatic effect trauma can have on religiosity. This study sought to extend this understanding by examining how a specific trauma, rape, influences religious beliefs and behaviors as well as how religiosity influences acknowledgment of rape. Rape acknowledgment is the personal use of the label rape to describe such an experience. The process of acknowledgment and general recovery from rape can include dramatic questioning of one’s religious beliefs and marks an important potential point of intervention, especially given the majority of the US identifies as religious. A sample of 310 mostly Christian, college-aged women completed questionnaires about their personal religiosity, attitudes and beliefs, and trauma history. Results indicated those who experienced rape experienced significantly greater change in their religious beliefs compared to those who had experienced other types of traumas ( p = .015). The relationship between rape acknowledgment and extrinsic religiosity was significantly mediated by ambivalent sexism (95% CI [0.0016, 0.0694]) and the endorsement of rape myths about women lying about rape (95% CI [0.0021, 0.0691]), such that high religiosity was associated with greater acceptance of these beliefs, which was associated with a lower likelihood of acknowledgment. In all, rape was shown to significantly alter one’s participation in their religion and their understanding of their own religiosity, and religious beliefs reflective of certain beliefs fueled a mislabeling of personal experiences of rape. These findings suggest religious guidance should be offered within rape recovery programing, and support for those who experience rape should be provided specifically within religious settings.