3.1.2 Reasons for Disclosure

Disclosing sexual assault is a courageous and challenging process.

There are many reasons that a survivor may decide to disclose and to seek assistance, a few of them are discussed below.

Stopping the silence: Keeping sexual assault a secret has extremely negative mental, emotional and physical health consequences for the survivor, and these can quickly become unmanageable.

A survivor may disclose and seek help to stop suffering in silence.

For survivors experiencing repeated sexual assault, there may be a hope that if someone else knows, the behavior might stop.

Stopping the perpetrator: Survivors often disclose because they want to stop the perpetrator from doing the same thing to other people.

Getting healthcare and support: In disclosing, a survivor may then be able to receive healthcare and support for their healing process.

Whether or not they are physically injured, worried they could become pregnant or fear getting a sexually transmitted infection, they will need to disclose to receive the appropriate medical treatment.

Getting justice: The survivor may want the perpetrator to be held accountable for the crime they have committed. Perhaps they want to go through the legal justice process or for the community to know what has happened.