Please click here to learn more about using this page safely.

Specific Victim Populations

Cultural Perspectives on Sexual Assault

What is Culture

Culture is traditionally defined in terms of race, ethnicity, and practices and values that are common for certain groups. This includes kin/non-kin networks, gender roles, traditions and rituals that mark birth, marriage and death, religion and spirituality, language, activities, differing core values. This is a cultural traits approach. If we include life context issues, we can consider experiences that many individuals from a given group have lived through due to historical factors.

James S Todd, M.D. AMA Executive Vice President

George Mason University has a vast population of students, faculty and staff from all different parts of the world; Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South America, etc. People come to this country with different ideas and experiences that will influence the services that they would seek, if at all. It is important for service providers to be cognizant of these different experiences of others that may not be known or understood. Individuals from different backgrounds and cultures perceive trauma and getting help for the trauma differently. Aspects of those attitudes and shaped by culture are: birth, marriage, death, male/female, language/dialect, spirituality, individualism, communitarianism, ambition, acquisitions, power, wealth, children, elderly, homosexuality, dress, “differentness”. Sources of cultural identities are: “location in life”, profession, mental/physical abilities, sexual orientation, age, religion, ethnicity, gender, rual/urban, education, income and nationality. (National Organization for Victim Assistance, 1991)

For statistics about sexual assault around the world, click here.

Please click on any of the subject headings below for information about that topic.

1. Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Assault
2. Survivors with Disabilities
3. Lesbian and Bisexual Survivors
4. Male Survivors
5. Teenage Survivors

This page was last updated: July 1, 2008 . This page is best viewed using Mozilla Firefox or Netscape Navigator.

Please click here for more information about how to clear your browser history (footprints).