Managing Privacy and the Decision to Disclose: Disclosures of Sexual Victimization

Abstract

This study explores the communication used by survivors after they have experienced an incident of sexual victimization. Specifically, it examines sexual victimization survivors’ criteria for disclosure through the lens of communication privacy management theory. Participants completed an online questionnaire in which they described their first disclosure incident. Qualitative analysis of these incidents illustrated survivors’ reasons for disclosing, anxieties during disclosure and the power the recipient often has in shaping the outcome of the disclosure event. These findings may be used to aid future survivors and recipients of this high-risk disclosure.