Time Doesn’t Heal Sexual Assault If Victims Are Silenced

How churches can help victims decades after assault.

Research indicates that when abuse victims feel like they can’t or shouldn’t talk about their experiences, their trauma can worsen.

“It does appear that withholding disclosure, or not telling about abuse or assault when one wants to tell is related to worse psychological symptoms, as is delayed disclosure,” according to University of Chicago criminology professor Sarah E. Ullman, in her book, Talking about Sexual Assault: Society’s Response to Survivors.

Indeed, many victims suffer in silence, since “studies indicate that only one half to two-thirds of adult women disclose their sexual assault experience to someone at some point in their lives.” Read More