The Impacts of Sexual Abuse
God created every part of us, including our sexuality as males and females. He gave us our sexuality to be able to more fully know his love, to be united in covenanted love with another human in the context of marriage, to experience pleasure, and to procreate. Sexuality is a gift from God that was intended to be free, total, faithful, and fruitful. Sexual abuse perverts that gift and uses it as a weapon to cause harm to another. As such, sexual abuse has many and wide-reaching effects on victims.
Sexual abuse can have short and/or long-term effects on survivors. Some may experience immediate effects of abuse. For others, it may take months or even years to identify the abuse and the ways it impacts them. Each person responds differently. There is no right or wrong way to respond to abuse. As a way to protect ourselves, our bodies and brains are created to go into the fight or flight response whenever we sense danger. When this occurs, our instincts take over and we cannot predict how we will respond. Whatever someone’s response to abuse is, it is important to remember they are doing their best to make sense of a senseless situation.
Immediate Impacts: Immediately after the abuse occurs, individuals may not be able to put words to their experiences or recognize that the experience was abusive in nature, especially if the abuse was perpetrated by someone they know. They may feel afraid, confused, violated, ashamed, in shock, and/or numb. As a protective mechanism, individuals may feel disconnected from their bodies and may attempt to completely block the memory of what occurred. Immediate impacts can also include sexually transmitted illnesses and medical concerns.
Long-term Impacts: Long-term impacts of sexual abuse are many and varied. They include mental, physical, spiritual, relational, sexual, and emotional effects. Broadly, sexual abuse impacts the way that a person views themselves, others, the world, and God. These long-term effects can occur days, weeks, or years after the abuse has occurred. The impacts of sexual abuse may or may not be easily traced back to the experience of abuse.
Mental Health Effects: Sexual abuse often impacts a person’s mental health and wellbeing. High levels of stress have lasting negative effects on the body and mind. It can affect a person’s concentration, mood, anxiety, sense of safety, ability to relax, and more. According to RAINN, victims of sexual abuse are:
Physical: Physical responses to abuse are varied and can show up years after the abuse has stopped, making it difficult to connect these conditions to the abuse. Some of these long-term effects include: stomach aches, gastrointestinal distress, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), headaches, muscle tension, weakened immune system, generalized and specific chronic pain, weight loss/gain, sleep disturbances, dissociation (feeling disconnected from your body).
Emotional: Emotional effects of abuse can include hopelessness, confusion, sadness, anger, and shame. It is not uncommon for survivors to feel used, dirty, or broken and to believe lies about their identity and their role in the abuse.
Relational: Because sexual abuse most often occurs in the context of relationship, it can cause grave difficulties in present and future relationships. Sexual abuse can make it hard to trust others, lead to anger towards men or women, and can cause isolation and social withdrawal. It can also cause a person to develop emotional dependence on others to feel validated or safe. Sexual abuse violates a victim’s boundaries and can make it hard for victims to know and set healthy boundaries in the future. Until they have acknowledged and healed from their past experiences of sexual abuse, victims may be more vulnerable to revictimization or unhealthy relationships as their sense of safety, boundaries, and healthy sexuality may be disordered.
Sexual: Similar to relational effects, sexual impacts of abuse often manifest in one of two ways. First, individuals may experience fear of sex and intimacy, an inability to experience pleasure during sex, or even physical pain during sex. When a victim becomes aroused, they may experience intense emotions and memories of the abuse. They might become disconnected from their body as a way to protect themselves from memories, emotions, and physical sensations that remind them of the abuse. Conversely, individuals who have experienced sexual abuse can also become hypersexualized, engage in promiscuous behaviors, and continually place themselves in situations that make them vulnerable to revictimization. Sexual abuse distorts the victim’s view of sexuality, can cause sexual confusion, and can lead a person to question their sexual orientation.
Spiritual: Abuse of any kind, but especially sexual abuse, impacts a person’s understanding of God and His role in the world. It can lead victims to ask many hard questions about God’s power, His goodness, and His love for them. Sexual abuse can cause an individual to feel abandoned or cut off from God. Victims might feel too ashamed to be in relationship with God. Victims can feel isolated from the Church. Sexual abuse can cause a loss of trust in God, feelings of hopelessness, and loss of faith.
It would be impossible to list all of the potential short and long-term effects of sexual abuse. Everyone responds differently. Similarly, if you are experiencing any of the impacts listed above, it does not necessarily mean that you have experienced sexual abuse. These conditions listed above can be caused by other traumas, life experiences, and biology.
Sexual abuse can have short and/or long-term effects on survivors. Some may experience immediate effects of abuse. For others, it may take months or even years to identify the abuse and the ways it impacts them. Each person responds differently. There is no right or wrong way to respond to abuse. As a way to protect ourselves, our bodies and brains are created to go into the fight or flight response whenever we sense danger. When this occurs, our instincts take over and we cannot predict how we will respond. Whatever someone’s response to abuse is, it is important to remember they are doing their best to make sense of a senseless situation.
Immediate Impacts: Immediately after the abuse occurs, individuals may not be able to put words to their experiences or recognize that the experience was abusive in nature, especially if the abuse was perpetrated by someone they know. They may feel afraid, confused, violated, ashamed, in shock, and/or numb. As a protective mechanism, individuals may feel disconnected from their bodies and may attempt to completely block the memory of what occurred. Immediate impacts can also include sexually transmitted illnesses and medical concerns.
Long-term Impacts: Long-term impacts of sexual abuse are many and varied. They include mental, physical, spiritual, relational, sexual, and emotional effects. Broadly, sexual abuse impacts the way that a person views themselves, others, the world, and God. These long-term effects can occur days, weeks, or years after the abuse has occurred. The impacts of sexual abuse may or may not be easily traced back to the experience of abuse.
Mental Health Effects: Sexual abuse often impacts a person’s mental health and wellbeing. High levels of stress have lasting negative effects on the body and mind. It can affect a person’s concentration, mood, anxiety, sense of safety, ability to relax, and more. According to RAINN, victims of sexual abuse are:
- 3 times more likely to suffer from depression.
- 6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
- 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol.
- 26 times more likely to abuse drugs.
- 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.
Physical: Physical responses to abuse are varied and can show up years after the abuse has stopped, making it difficult to connect these conditions to the abuse. Some of these long-term effects include: stomach aches, gastrointestinal distress, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), headaches, muscle tension, weakened immune system, generalized and specific chronic pain, weight loss/gain, sleep disturbances, dissociation (feeling disconnected from your body).
Emotional: Emotional effects of abuse can include hopelessness, confusion, sadness, anger, and shame. It is not uncommon for survivors to feel used, dirty, or broken and to believe lies about their identity and their role in the abuse.
Relational: Because sexual abuse most often occurs in the context of relationship, it can cause grave difficulties in present and future relationships. Sexual abuse can make it hard to trust others, lead to anger towards men or women, and can cause isolation and social withdrawal. It can also cause a person to develop emotional dependence on others to feel validated or safe. Sexual abuse violates a victim’s boundaries and can make it hard for victims to know and set healthy boundaries in the future. Until they have acknowledged and healed from their past experiences of sexual abuse, victims may be more vulnerable to revictimization or unhealthy relationships as their sense of safety, boundaries, and healthy sexuality may be disordered.
Sexual: Similar to relational effects, sexual impacts of abuse often manifest in one of two ways. First, individuals may experience fear of sex and intimacy, an inability to experience pleasure during sex, or even physical pain during sex. When a victim becomes aroused, they may experience intense emotions and memories of the abuse. They might become disconnected from their body as a way to protect themselves from memories, emotions, and physical sensations that remind them of the abuse. Conversely, individuals who have experienced sexual abuse can also become hypersexualized, engage in promiscuous behaviors, and continually place themselves in situations that make them vulnerable to revictimization. Sexual abuse distorts the victim’s view of sexuality, can cause sexual confusion, and can lead a person to question their sexual orientation.
Spiritual: Abuse of any kind, but especially sexual abuse, impacts a person’s understanding of God and His role in the world. It can lead victims to ask many hard questions about God’s power, His goodness, and His love for them. Sexual abuse can cause an individual to feel abandoned or cut off from God. Victims might feel too ashamed to be in relationship with God. Victims can feel isolated from the Church. Sexual abuse can cause a loss of trust in God, feelings of hopelessness, and loss of faith.
It would be impossible to list all of the potential short and long-term effects of sexual abuse. Everyone responds differently. Similarly, if you are experiencing any of the impacts listed above, it does not necessarily mean that you have experienced sexual abuse. These conditions listed above can be caused by other traumas, life experiences, and biology.