Sexual violence and dating: experience of victimization and impacts on adolescent relationships

Abstract

 This study aims to analyze the experiences of sexual abuse victimization in dating and its impact on school adolescents. Its aboute a qualitative study with five students from the high school who suffered sexual violence in their relationships. The data were interpreted based on the Bardin content analysis. The initial units were grouped into thematic axes, namely: victimization experience and perceptions about violence and impacts and strategies of coping and overcoming of the violence suffered. The data show from subtle experiences of violence to attempts to maintain forced sexual intercourse in dating relationships, often preceded by previous experiences in other relational spheres and overlapping of violence. The impacts produced differ according to the characteristics of the violence suffered, but feelings of fear, guilt, shame and social isolation were common, as well as suicidal behaviors. The main forms of coping included sharing experiences with mothers, changing attitudes toward relationships, and only one adolescent turned to protective organs, undergoing revictimization. The study allowed us to know the experiences of victimization by sexual abuse in adolescents dating.