Stalking and Other Forms of Dating Violence: Lessons Learned from You in Relation to Cyber Safety.

Often, individuals share private information on social media, being unaware of online dangers. You, a popular psychological thriller series on Netflix, raises issues of stalking behaviors through social media as part of a pattern of dating violence. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, this study examined how social media is used for erotic stalking, dating violence, and cyber safety awareness (or lack thereof) in You. The researchers analyzed all 10 episodes of the first season of You independently, taking notes. A combined in-depth analysis included discussions of messages and meanings resulting in three overarching themes: obsessive online and in-person erotic stalking, controlling behaviors in the context of the dating relationship, and an apparent indifference about cyber safety with oversharing of personal information on social media, which was exploited by the lead protagonist. You raises important concerns including inappropriate dating behaviors such as stalking, coercive control, violence, and questionable masculine attitudes, which are interwoven with an apparent lack of knowledge and understanding in relation to cyber safety. We concluded that raising awareness of the importance of online safety and security in the context of a dating relationship is imperative and that You can be used as an educational tool.

Women's Contexts and Circumstances of Posttraumatic Growth After Sexual Victimization: A Systematic Review.

Sexual violence is a concerning public health and criminal justice problem. Even though extensive literature has linked sexual victimization to a multitude of mental and physical problems, some victim/survivors recover and are able to lead lives without notable negative impacts. Little is known about women who experienced posttraumatic growth following sexual victimization. This review brings together knowledge accumulated in the academic literature in the past decade. It was informed by the PRISMA-P guidelines. Databases were searched using a combination of keywords to locate original peer-reviewed research articles published between January 2010 and October 2020 focusing on posttraumatic growth following sexual victimization. The initial search identified 6,187 articles with 265 articles being read in full, identifying 41 articles that were included in the analysis. The results suggest that recovery from sexual victimization is possible with the healing process being idiosyncratic. Victim/survivors employed various strategies resulting in higher degrees of functioning, which were termed growth. Following a synthesis of themes that emerged from the thematic analysis, a higher order abstraction, using creative insight through reflexivity, discussions among the research team and consistent interpretation and re-interpretation of the identified themes as a second stage analysis, resulted in the identification of two superordinate topics "relationship to self" and "relationship to others." Findings indicated that women engaged in deliberate introspection to connect with themselves and utilized altruistic actions and activism in an attempt to prevent further sexual victimization Helping victim/survivors deal with the sexual violence facilitated growth as a collective. We concluded that helping others may be a therapeutic vehicle for PTG. Given research in this area remains in its infancy, further investigation is urgently needed.

Silencing by design: Lessons learned about child sexual abuse from a university sexual assault survey.

BACKGROUND: University students have been recognized as particularly being vulnerable to sexual victimization. PURPOSE: With little research to date, and acknowledgement for the need of a better understanding of sexual violence, our study analysed the CQUniversity Sexual Assault Survey's qualitative responses. An open-ended qualitative question allowed students to provide information anonymously. METHODS: A total of 109 participants contributed responses with 17 respondents commenting on the fact that the survey omitted to ask about child sexual abuse prior to the cut-off age of 12 years. RESULTS: University students revealed unexpected disclosures of prepubescent child sexual abuse victimization and ongoing sexual victimization into adulthood. Furthermore, students' comments indicated negative impacts including distress, mental health and substance use problems, distrust, and interpersonal difficulties. Strong feelings about 'silencing' prepubescent child sexual abuse in university surveys were expressed with a request that questions about child sexual abuse prior to the age of 12 years be included. CONCLUSION: Our study found that child sexual abuse victimization is important to students. Recommendations indicate the need for future research about sexual violence among university students without age restrictions to gain a better understanding about the impact of trauma including revictimization experiences.

Improving Clinical Practice: What Dentists Need to Know about the Association between Dental Fear and a History of Sexual Violence Victimisation.

Anecdotal evidence suggests lack of dentist knowledge and uncertainty about how clinical practice can be improved when dealing with victims of sexual violence. This systematic review presents a synthesis of the available literature, which examined the association between dental fear and a history of sexual violence victimisation. All studies indicated, to various degrees, that dental fear is associated with a history of sexual violence victimisation. The analysis identified several common themes including a perception of lack of control, avoidance behaviours, experiences of flashbacks, feelings of embarrassment, difficulties with the physical proximity to the dentist, the sex of the dentist reminding patients of the perpetrator, being placed into a horizontal body position, the specific impact of fellatio, the smell of latex, experienced lack of knowledge of dental professionals leading to insensitive treatment as well as revictimisation experiences, and the occurrence of disproportionate dental problems among patients who had experienced event(s) of sexual violence. All these themes are discussed in detail. Specific strategies are offered to assist dental practitioners in providing sensitive treatment for patients with a history of sexual violence. Additionally, several suggestions are made that may assist both researchers and dental practitioners alike.