Online Disclosure of Sexual Violence and Reactions in the Example of the Women’s Club as a Place of Disclosure

It is well known that most women who had been exposed to sexual violence can not or not willingly speak about it as easily as they do about physical violence. There are various reasons why women do not share or cannot share what they experienced. One of their concern is being judged and therefore they are not able to overcome their trauma. In this study, thirty-three sexual violence disclosures and 2203 responses were analyzed through qualitative secondary analysis using the interpretive and explanatory methodology. Where all headings containing the words “assault” or “rape” from 2015 to
June 2018 in the Women’s Club, a women’s sharing forum, were investigated. We have analyzed the reasons for disclosure, emotions involved in disclosures, reactions to disclosures and, emotions after reactions. The importance of reactions to disclosures for the survivor is taken into account, although the majority of responses are supportive, the minority of responses are negative and worrisome. In light of the results obtained, a proposal was formed, which aims to develop functional support models and bring specialists together in online platforms where survivors disclose sexual violence by protecting their privacy.