واکاوی پدیدارشناسانه تجارب زیسته زنان قربانی تعرض جنسی شهر تهران

The present study is a qualitative study to phenomenologically examine lived experiences of women victims of sexual assault. The subjects of the study population were women who had been harassed and raped, and the researcher did not interfere in their treatment. Among this population, sampling was done snowball sampling (12 people). Using semi-structured interviews, information related to the sample was collected, and the findings were analyzed by the descriptive phenomenological approach and Colaizzi’s method. After analyzing the content of the interviews and coding them, the findings include 8 main categories (low mood, post-traumatic stress, violence, lack of self-confidence, dysfunctional compensatory mechanisms, receiving annoying reactions from others, negative and deterrent consequences in daily life, constructive compensation) and 37 sub-categories. Findings showed that women who have been sexually assaulted still years after the accident, have not been able to cope with post-anxiety disorders or forget about it, and this has become a schema in them. Also, the most common symptoms were depression and aggression, and social and cultural factors were found to be effective in not treating them.
 
Keywords
Phenomenology, Women's lived experience, Sexual assault.
 
Introduction
Sexual harassment is a relatively common experience in the lives of women worldwide and has been recognized by the United Nations as a human rights issue. This violence includes physical, emotional, and sexual violence (Herman,2001). It is estimated that at least one in three women has been sexually assaulted, coerced, or abused in her lifetime (Tavara,2006). The negative consequences and harmful effects of sexual violence are well documented and have been known to persist for many years after the assault (Ellsberg & Heise, 2005). In sexual assault, invasion of a person's privacy often leads to damage to the mental system and identity. The experience of being sexually assaulted can inflict severe psychological blows on a person since, at the time, all of the person's psychological defense mechanisms are disrupted and even paralyzed. This horrible event causes a person to feel the world around him no longer as it was in the past, but as an "insecure world." Therefore, given the issues raised in this study, the researcher intends to examine the lived experiences of women who are victims of violence.
 
 
Research Objectives
This study examines the phenomena experienced by women who are victims of sexual assault and analyzes these experiences as these women often suffer from traumas and psychological distress that can call into question the continuation of their lives. Therefore, this study aims to investigate these traumas and psychological distress and to examine the lived experience of these women who have been sexually abused, and examine the effects of this experience on their personal lives.
 
 
Methodology
The current qualitative research was based on a descriptive phenomenological method for which data were collected from 2019 to 2020. The study aims to answer the question "How sexual harassment experience affect the daily life of assaulted women?". Study participants were selected from women and girls who had been sexually assaulted outside the home by persons other than close incest, and at least 6 months had elapsed since the survey. Participants were asked to take part in several groups in cyberspace and continue with the snowball method by initiating an interview. Accordingly, in this study, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 12 people with face-to-face conversation in public via online interviews. Data were analyzed using the Colaizzi method. In the final validation, the criteria of acceptability and reliability were used. To confirm the validity, each participant was provided with the information on each interview after analysis, and necessary corrections were made based on their opinions. For reliability, the findings, including the main categories and sub-categories, were reviewed, consulted, and revised based on the opinions of the faculty members of the Counseling Department of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of Allameh Tabatabai University.
Results
The findings include 8 main categories (low mood, post-traumatic stress, violence, lack of self-confidence, dysfunctional compensatory mechanisms, annoying reactions from others, negative and deterrent consequences in daily life, constructive compensation) and 37 sub-categories. Findings suggest that even after many years, victims are not still able to cope with post-anxiety disorders or forget about the event, and this has become a schema in their minds. Also, the most common symptoms were depression and aggression, and social and cultural factors failed to treat them.
 
Discussion
Depression, defined as low mood, is the most intense emotional response commonly found in sexual assault victims. It is among the most important meanings in the study of the lived experiences of women exposed to sexual harassment. Depression is a multidimensional construct with many causes, among them is sexual violence, which can be short or long term. Type of depression caused by sexual harassment may last for years for those who have been sexually harassed. Feeling of loneliness, due to the inability to communicate with peers, as well as lack of self-confidence was also expressed by respondents. In this study, victims of sexual assault also mentioned common disorders, including night restlessness and sleep disorders.
Intellectual self-harm, which in this study includes suicidal ideation and termination, is one of the important meanings in examining the lived experience of victims, and it’s closely related to physical self-harm and addiction. In the statement of respondents, retaliation is also obvious as an ineffective compensation mechanism. Sexual assault seriously affects the social interactions of assaulted women also. Distrust is a major factor in isolating interactions of victims, and negative reactions, especially from family members and school peers as the first and second supporting societies, play a significant role in this isolation. Another finding is that women who have this experience support each other. To have religious and spiritual beliefs is their compensatory mechanism to reduce the harm as well. Another compensatory system was achievements in employment, education, and work.
As stated before, sexually assaulted women after years have not been able to cope with post-anxiety disorders or forget about it, and this has become a schema in their minds. The women in the study shared their schema in response to the question, "How has sexual assault affected your outlook and feelings about the world around you?",they replied so "This world was not meant to be mine."
Common symptoms include depression and aggression, and two women reported bipolar disorder as diagnosed by a physician. Some of their childhood experiences of sexual assault have been neglected by their parents or they have not received the necessary training in this regard and this causes psychological conflict like anger and constant low mood. Social and cultural factors have also been involved in the severity of subsequent disorders, especially the fear of others' awareness, and accepting the stigma has been effective on their veiling and not legally suing the rapist. Another preventive problem for these women is not talking about their lived experiences with others which is due to social unacceptance, negative attitudes, and misconceptions existing in the society and the person's own belief that talking about their experience is considered a bad and immoral thing and thus hid it in the treasury of their hearts.
Rape usually contains early and late consequences. One of its most important early consequences is the state of shock. Delayed side effects include helplessness and lack of control. Sexual assault is even more damaging when forced by a trusted person and repeatedly. When recurring over and over, the victim is severely damaged and would permanently feel helpless and out of control, increasing the vulnerability to a variety of severe disorders including suicide, and leaving the person without inner control. If the victim remains silent after the attack and no legal action is taken, the likelihood of relapse and therefore consequent harms increases.
                                                 
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