This study analyzed tweets from Twitter containing hashtags related to the #WhyIDidntReport movement, which was created to allow victims of sexual violence to share their experiences and seek support. The study aimed to identify common barriers to formal reporting of sexual violence. The study used the Twitter API and snscrape, a social network scraping tool, to gather tweets from January 1, 2020 to October 31, 2022. A total of 29,855 tweets were collected and preprocessed, and 1,500 were randomly selected for analysis to identify themes. The study found that the most common reason for not reporting was personal, followed by societal. The least common reason was criminal. The study also found that the most common subtheme for not reporting was fear of retaliation from the perpetrator, which made up 30.6% of the tweets. Another subtheme under the personal theme was ignorance of assault, which made up 15.3% of the tweets. The subtheme of considering the assault as not serious made up 12.6% of the tweets. Several recommendations were made to the prevalence of sexual violence.
TopIntroduction
Sexual violence has severe effects on individuals, families, and communities. It affects people of all genders, ages, races, faiths, income levels, abilities, and sexual orientations. It is one of the most devastating, persistent, and frequent human rights violations that happens both in peaceful times and during wars. This makes it one of the most critical global health issues since it has a significant impact on long-term health, opportunity, and well-being. Even though sexual violence can be committed by a stranger, it is frequently committed by known and even trusted individuals, such as a friend, coworker, family member, spouse, or ex-partner (RAINN, 2022). Sexual violence can take place in person, online, or through technology, such as when someone posts or shares sexually explicit images of others without their permission or engages in non-consensual sexting.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines sexual violence as any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work (WHO, 2012). A more recent definition by WHO characterizes sexual violence as any act of violence that causes or is likely to cause physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to an individual, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether performed publicly or privately (WHO, 2021). In addition, sexual violence may take place when someone is not able to give consent for instance, while intoxicated, drugged, asleep, or physically or mentally incapacitated. While the WHO definition is quite broad, narrower definitions also exist to put in scope the various actions, situations, and/or perpetrators of the violence. As such, it is important to note that the term “sexual violence” is an all-encompassing, non-legal term that refers to crimes of sexual activity when consent is not obtained or freely given (RAINN, 2022). Therefore, sexual violence includes but is not limited to any form of sexual assault, intimate partner sexual violence, incest, sexual harassment, stalking, sexual exploitation, sodomy, and military sexual trauma.
Sexual assault can have long-lasting effects on the victims. Victims may face recurrent reproductive, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and sexual health issues as well as a post-traumatic stress disorder (WCSAP, 2018). In particularly, for women, it may cause unintended pregnancies, forced abortions, miscarriages, stillbirths, gynecological issues, pain syndromes, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV, are all consequences of sexual abuse. Negative health behaviours are also associated with sexual violence. Those who have experienced sexual violence are more likely to smoke, attempt suicide, eat unhealthily, abuse alcohol, use drugs, and engage in unsafe sexual behaviour (Jaconis, Boyd, & Gray, 2020). Children who grow up in homes with sexual violence may eventually commit violent acts or experience violent behaviour.