Post-Sexual Assault Decision Making: Centering Black Women’s Experiences

• Author: Shamika M. Kelley
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/15570851221150912
• Published date: 01 April 2023
• Date: 01 April 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Feminist Criminology

2023, Vol. 18(2) 133–155

© The Author(s) 2023

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DOI: 10.1177/15570851221150912

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Post-Sexual Assault Decision

Making: Centering Black

Women’s Experiences

Shamika M. Kelley

1



Abstract

Existing research has identif‌ied various reasons most sexual assault victims do not seek

help. There remains a need, however, to highlight Black women’s experiences to better

understand and adequately meet their needs when they seek help. This project extends

existing bodies of knowledge by centering Black women, situating their experiences

within a Black feminist framework, and evaluating their experiences as they seek help to

understand factors that shape their reporting decisions. Findings suggest that as Black

women seek medical help, they consider culture-specif‌ic and real rape factors during

the police reporting decision. Key f‌indings, implications, and policy recommendations

are discussed.

Keywords

sexual assault, rape, help-seeking, police reporting, black women

Introduction

The majority of sexual assault victims do not contact the poli ce for help. Indeed, studies f‌ind

that sexual assault reporting to police ranges from approximately 25% to as low as 5%

(Bachman, R., 1993;1998;Fisher et al., 2003;Wolitzky-Taylor et al., 2011). These statistics

are alarming given that, in the United States alone, 459,310 incidents of sexual assault were

reported to the National Crime Victimization Survey in 2019 (Morgan & Truman, 2020).

1

Aff‌iliated Faculty, Crime Victims’Institute, Huntsville, TX, USA

Corresponding Author:

Shamika M. Kelley, Aff‌iliated Faculty, Crime Victims’Institute, 816 17th Street, Sam Houston State

University, Huntsville, TX 77340, USA.

Email: sms167@shsu.edu

The large gap in sexual victimization and reporting has been a driving force behind victim

decision-making research, which aims to highlight the benef‌its of reporting these crimes to

authorities and/or service providers. For example, reporting can be a means of rece iving

medical and psychological treatment from support agencies (Block, 1974;Rennison, 2002;

Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006). Additionally, successful adjudication, conviction, and reha-

bilitation of perpetrators can prevent repeat victimization and promote deterrence of future

rapes (Bachman, 1993;1998;Feldman-Summers & Norris, 1984). Interpersonal and sit-

uational factors, however, may be regarded differently during the help-seeking dec ision after

sexual victimization among women from diverse racial-ethnic backgrounds. As such, it is

imperative to understand intragroup variations in help-seeking among women (Crenshaw,

1991;Maier, 2013). For Black women, sociohistorical images and societal expectations of

Black women may hinder their help-seeking (Neville & Pugh, 1997;Washington, 2001).

Black women specif‌ically are at high risk for lasting trauma effects when they do not seek

and receive help after victimization (Bryant-Davis et al., 2009). The current study, therefore,

seeks to contextualize Black women’s decision to report to police. Specif‌ically, this study

examines Black women’sreports to forensic nurses as they seek help to identify factors that

may shape their decisions to f‌ile police reports following sexual assault. This work extends

prior help-seeking analyses by situating Black women’s experiences in Black feminist and

rape culture frameworks to elucidate their unique experi ences.

Literature Review

Racialized Rape Myths and Stereotypes

Historical false depictions of Black women laid the foundation for contemporary

racialized rape myths. Rape myths are falsehoods that are perpetuated in society about

the causes, characteristics, and consequences of sexual violence that promote and

justify sexual violence against women (Brownmiller, 1975;Herman, 1989;Lonsway &

Fitzgerald, 1994). While rape myths affect all women, Black women are also sus-

ceptible to anti-Black rape myths regarding their sexuality (West, 2012). As stated by

Donovan and Williams (2002), Black women get a “double dose of rape myths”(p.98).

Black victims endure rape myths and stereotypes regarding Blackness and femaleness,

which focus less on their behavior and more on their identity (Crenshaw, 1991).

Controlling images of Black sexuality provide a “racialized toolkit”for Black women

and social actors to understand their victimizations and how to—or not to—respond

(McGuffey, 2013).

The Jezebel stereotype, for example, falsely depicts Black women as sexually

promiscuous and immoral women who tempted men (Collins, 2000;hooks, 1981).

When Black women internalize racialized rape myths, they may not view themselves as

worthy of support and may be less likely to seek help after being sexually victimized

(Long et al., 2007;McGuffey, 2013;Nelson et al., 2016). For example, in McGuffey’s

(2013) qualitative assessment of whether and how racism, classism, and sexism in-

tersect to shape Black women rape survivors’understanding of their rape, they

134 Feminist Criminology 18(2)