Study on Survivors of Sexual Violence Reveals Astonishing Findings

Sexual violence is a major problem in most wars and conflicts around the world – for example in civil war conflicts in Africa and Southeast Asia. Women and children in particular are likely to experience some form of sexual violence. This in turn often leads to stigmatization and exclusion of those affected from the community. Prof. Dr. Richard Traunmüller from the University of Mannheim and his colleague Prof. Dr. Carlo Koos from the University of Bergen in Norway have conducted over 10,000 interviews with those affected to investigate how victims of sexual violence behave after the crime.

So far, research literature, NGOs and international organizations have concluded that survivors of sexual violence are helpless and socially marginalized and excluded. However, Traunmüller and Koos have found the opposite effect: “Our results show that survivors are often resilient and self-determined individuals who actively participate in the community and avoid stigmatization.” On average, they are more involved in their communities and are more likely to be members of local associations. The researchers believe that the main reason for this is that those affected are trying to counteract their stigma by contributing to their community and getting involved in civic activities.

The importance of the community
Particularly in countries where the state cannot guarantee security, public services or a functioning justice system, the village community remains the only place of refuge for survivors of sexual violence. These communities often replace the state at the local level. In order not to be excluded from this community, they try even harder to reintegrate into their social environment and social group. Research in social psychology supports this assumption.

A new method
For their study, Traunmüller and Koos interviewed victims in three different countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Sri Lanka. They used a new survey method in which the anonymity of the respondents was paramount. “The main problem in researching sexual violence is ‘underreporting’, i.e. the true extent is underestimated because the victims remain silent about their experience of violence out of shame or fear. Our experimental questioning method avoids this problem because it provides an indirect estimate – without the respondents having to reveal themselves directly,” explains Traunmüller. The new method of the so-called “list survey” doubled the number of people who were willing to talk about the sexual violence they had experienced. The respondents are given a list of experiences in which they only have to state the total number of experiences they have had, but not which ones. The difference between the average number of points collected in this way and the average number stated by a control group is then determined.

According to the researchers, the new type of survey could be a very important methodological innovation that could have an impact on the collection of statistics on rape, domestic violence and bullying, not only in crisis areas. “Our method has already attracted a great deal of interest – for example from USAID, the American agency for international development, or UNU-WIDER, a United Nations institute that works in the field of policy advice and international development,” Traunmüller notes.