Title: Risk Factors | Sexual Assault | INSPQ
Headings: Risk Factors
Risk Factors
A word of caution on the interpretation of risk factors
Factors associated with an increased risk of being sexually abused during childhood (0-18 years of age)
References

Content: The risk factors associated with being sexually assaulted during adulthood have been studied primarily for female victims and are related to a wide range of sexual assault situations, including intimate partner sexual assault in a conjugal context. The community and societal factors identified as being associated with an increased risk of being sexually assaulted as an adult show that sexual assault is a social phenomenon that concerns the population as a whole. Identifying factors that are associated with an increased risk of being sexually assaulted as an adult helps to better plan preventive interventions in the area of sexual assault by making it possible to target higher-risk groups and act on the risk factors concerned. Individual factors 9,10,11
Certain individual factors have been associated with an increased likelihood of being sexually assaulted as an adult. The most consistently reported factors include: being a woman, being young, having been maltreated in childhood, having already been a victim of sexual assault, using drugs or alcohol, and working in the sex trade. Relationship factors 9,10,11
Few relationship factors have been associated with an increased risk of being sexually assaulted as an adult. However, having multiple sexual partners has been mentioned as a factor that can contribute to the risk. Community factors 9,10
Community factors associated with an increased likelihood of being sexually assaulted as an adult have been studied to only a limited extent thus far. However, some studies suggest that tolerance of sexual assault and weak sanctions against sexual assault within a community play a role in raising the risk.