ABSTRACT

Although the association between child sexual abuse (CSA) and homelessness among women is well documented, few studies have investigated this topic from a feminist standpoint, examining the impact of sociocultural factors such as rape culture. Based on a qualitative life course approach, individual interviews were conducted with 21 women who experienced both CSA and homelessness. Participants were between 29 to 60 years old (M = 45 years of age). Analyses revealed that CSA disclosure experiences were characterized by victim-blaming and disbelief. Women’s traumatic experiences were further aggravated by these types of reactions. Finally, CSA and negative social reactions to women’s disclosures of CSA were perceived as the onset of social exclusion, which lead to their homelessness. This study shows how traumatic CSA experiences and negative social reactions to their disclosure can both contribute to social exclusion and isolation, and to homelessness through the internalization of rape myths. These findings support the importance of focusing on CSA prevention to reduce social exclusion and homelessness.

摘要

尽管儿童性虐待 (CSA) 与女性无家可归之间的关联有据可查，但很少有研究从女权主义的角度调查这个话题，检查强奸文化等社会文化因素的影响。基于定性的生命历程方法，对 21 名同时经历 CSA 和无家可归的女性进行了个人访谈。参与者年龄在 29 至 60 岁之间（M= 45 岁）。分析表明，CSA 披露经历的特点是对受害者的指责和怀疑。这些类型的反应进一步加剧了女性的创伤经历。最后，CSA 和对女性披露 CSA 的负面社会反应被视为社会排斥的开始，导致她们无家可归。这项研究表明，创伤性 CSA 经历和对其披露的负面社会反应如何通过内化强奸神话而导致社会排斥和孤立，以及无家可归。这些发现支持关注 CSA 预防以减少社会排斥和无家可归的重要性。