5.3.3 Holistic Safety

The emotional safety of the survivor is as important to address as their physical safety.

After sexual assault, many survivors turn to harmful coping mechanisms, including substance abuse, eating disorders or self-mutilation.

Survivors may also show increased risk-taking behaviors.

It’s common for survivors to experience trauma-induced mental health conditions including suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress.

Survivors may feel unsafe in their own bodies and isolate themselves from friends, family and public life.

Healing from sexual assault is a process that can take many years.

Safety planning is an ongoing process. Over time, contexts change, and new concerns can arise that require the safety plan to change as well.

For many survivors, their emotional, mental, physical and economic safety will be an issue for an extended period of time after the assault.

For this reason, it’s important that survivors understand that their safety plan will also need to change.