O22 (Intersectional) stigma among sexual assault survivors seeking formal support: an analysis of reddit

Background Sexual assault in adolescence and adulthood is a pervasive crime often resulting in trauma to survivors. Despite its considerable consequences, relatively few survivors disclose the sexual assault to formal support providers (e.g., health care providers). The literature suggests there are several factors associated with reduced disclosure to formal support providers (e.g., self-blame). If survivors do disclose to formal support providers, they receive more negative social reactions (e.g., victim blame) than if they disclose to informal support providers (e.g., friends). Furthermore, survivors holding marginalized identities (e.g., sexual minority) appear more likely to receive negative reactions from formal support providers than those holding more dominant identities (e.g., white, heterosexual). To date, little work has provided a theoretical examination of how sexual assault stigmatization impacts the disclosure experiences of survivors or how those effects may be compounded for those who hold (multiple) marginalized identities. Objectives Grounded in intersectionality (e.g., intersection of racism, sexism), this study explores the role of stigma in the decision to disclose to formal support providers and how stigma shapes the disclosure encounter. Methods This study employs a computer-mediated discourse analysis of posts by sexual assault survivors to the website Reddit . Results This study is currently in the data analysis stage. Preliminary results suggest that being a sexual assault survivor constitutes a concealable, stigmatized identity. Survivors experience stigma (e.g., internal, cultural) in both the decision to disclose to formal support providers and during the disclosure encounter, and holding (multiple) marginalized identities impacts how this stigma is experienced. Emergent themes include the seeking of help in online communities for those whom (intersectional) stigma acts as a barrier to seeking in-person help from formal support providers, the use of online support concomitantly with formal help-seeking, and the influence of the #metoo movement on (non)disclosure to formal support providers.