Psychological, social, financial, juridical and religious problems in victims of sexual violence and non-victims. Lessons learned from the VICTIMS-study

To what extent do victims of recent sexual violence suffer more often from mental health, physical, social, financial, legal, and religious problems than a comparable group of adults not victimized by recent sexual violence? To what extent are they more often exposed to other drastic events, such as serious threats, thefts, accidents and loss of a significant other? This study provides answers to these questions, based on four surveys of the Victims in Modern Society (VICTIMS)-study conducted with the Longitudinal Internet studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) panel. This longitudinal panel is based on a traditional probability sample of the Dutch population by Statistics Netherlands. The group of non-victims is matched on the basis of 64 unique demographic profiles. Results show that adults victimized by sexual violence in the past 12 months, significantly more often suffer from 1.) general mental health problems moderate and severe anxiety and depression symptoms, 2.) physical problems, 3.) lack of emotional support and listening ear, 4.) financial problems, 5.) legal problems, and 6.) religious problems than nonvictims. Victims are also more often exposed to serious threats, thefts, accidents and loss of a significant other. When taken into account the effects of these events, victims still more often suffer from assessed problems. When victims need professional support, it is therefore of relevance to examine all these problems and not only focus on mental health problems.