Psychology Assignment 2022

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

PSYCHOLOGY1
Introduction
Sexual assault is defined as any undesirable sexual actions, which make an individual
feel scared, uncomfortable or threatened. Sexual assault covers three major range of
unwanted sexual action namely rape, indecent assault and child sexual exploitation (SBS
News, 2019). Sexual assault is not always concerned with the offenders, who try to
physically impose themselves on the victim for sexual pleasure and engage in a forced sexual
act instead, it is also sometimes related to the people who enjoy the controlling and asserting
power over the other person. This study will focus on the female victim of sexual assault
offenses and, According to The National Centre for Victims of Crime (NCVC), sexual assault
is defined as the sexual action that includes different forms of act like attempted rape or rape
and unwanted sexual threats without seeking any consent form the victim (National Sexual
Violence Resource Centre, 2019). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS),
4% of men and 17% of women face the condition of sexual assault from the age 15 and
above. Hence, this study will focus on the pattern of victimization, effect of sexual assault on
the victim, the rights that can be claimed by the victim, the possible barriers faced by the
victim in achieving justice and resolution and the support services that are available for the
victim to in order to help the victim suffering from the trauma of sexual assault (Casa.org.au,
2019).
Pattern of Victimisation
In order to study the detail pattern of victimisation, the complete knowledge and study
of victimology takes place. Victimology is defined as the study of law-breaking or crime
victims and other associated factor that increases the susceptibility towards victimisation. The
police officers are usually responsible for studying the pattern of victimisation as they will be
investigating the case and the studying the complete scenario of sexual assault that happens

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with large population of women. Large number of women are filling case or reporting against
sexual assault that happened with them and based on the survey the record of sexual assault is
increasing among the younger population of Australia, which have majorly contributed
towards rise in the cases of sexual assault. From the time period of 1995 to 2005, the total
number of sexual assault cases for the children aged between 0-14 have increased to 40% of
the total filed cases, where the majority of victims are females (Australian Institute of
Criminology, 2019). The crucial evidence regarding the crime is derived and collected from
the complete study of victimisation trend and pattern, which are grounded on the data and
information collected from the victim rather than the in-charge police officer.
Large population-based victimisation surveys are conducted for understanding for
understanding the household and individual risk associated with different forms of crime. The
complete analysis of victimisation pattern includes evaluating the relationship among the
individual, community and family members concerning the forceful crime victimisation or
property risk (Cortoni, Babchishin and Rat 2017). The pattern of victimisation is largely
based on the crime survey data that is often studied and validated from the past police records
and the national reporting system, which are responsible for reporting the cases of sexual
assault that takes place within the female population and also include the possible factors that
might have triggered the situation of sexual assault.
The common sources of evidence regarding the victimization trends and patterns are
retained by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in the United States and the Home Office in Great
Britain. In United States (US), the Bureau of Justice Statistics website exhibit a page named
and titled as Criminal Victimization that is useful for providing recent and updated
descriptive information and evidence regarding victimization trends and patterns according to
the crime category and designated victim individualities derived from the National Crime
Victimization Survey data (Bjs.gov, 2019). Other relevant and associated data regarding the

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pattern of victimisation and the victims are derived from the homicide records, which consist
of other important evidence concerned with the issue. The yearly victimization reports
distributed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (Criminal victimization in the United States—
statistical tables) are deliberated as the standard reference information for conducting the
research on US sexual assault trends.
Effect of the crime on the victim
Sexual assault is defined as any undesirable sexual actions, which make an individual
feel scared, uncomfortable or threatened. The female who were the victim of sexual assault
suffer from a wide-range of impact that affect their general well-being. The impact or effect
of sexual assault is not only limited to the emotional or psychological impact but also effect
the social, physical, financial and interpersonal domain of the victim. There are different set
of factors that must be noticed and identified before highlighting the impact of sexual assault
on the female population. The variety of factors that will influence the effect of sexual assault
are as follows (Thompson et al. 2019):
 The harshness of the assault
 The degree of physical injury or harm
 The relationship of the victim and the perpetrator
 The personal and individual history of the victim
 The response or reaction of the friends and family members
 The total time period for which the victim was physically abused
Based on the above mentioned factors, there are various effect of sexual assault on the
victim ranging from both short-term and long-term effects. The effect of the crime on the
victim are as follows (Tarzia et al. 2017):