Background

Sexual violence is highly prevalent in our society, yet forms of sexual violence such as child sexual abuse, sexual assault and sexual exploitation remain some of the most under-reported of serious offences. Research has found that many people in the community hold attitudes and beliefs that justify, conceal, excuse, or minimise sexual victimisation. Victim/survivors often do not speak out about these experiences because of fear, shame and the lack of community understanding about the range of circumstances in which sexual violence occurs, and its impact on victim/survivors.

Sexual violence often intersects with other forms of harm such as family and domestic violence, bullying, and interpersonal violence more broadly. Sexual victimisation also has complex relationships with mental health, relationships, parenting, alcohol and other drugs, and social disadvantage.

These intersections can present challenges for prevention efforts, policy development and service responses.

About Sexual Violence Research

The Sexual Violence Research team (SVR) at AIFS focuses on exploring issues related to sexual violence, such as:

child sexual abuse

child and adolescent problem sexual behaviours

adult sexual assault

prevention of sexual violence

perpetration and sexual offending.

A key focus of our work is on understanding how these issues connect to other domains of child and family well being (see AIFS' Violence and Families page).

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