The normalisation of sexual violence revictimisation in regional and rural areas: Our failure to respond

Abstract

Sexual revictimisation has devastating consequences for victim/survivors, yet there is limited research exploring women's experience of revictimisation in regional/rural areas. Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, this paper reports on a qualitative study that employed a material feminist lens and Nixon's theory of “slow violence” to explore women's lived experiences of sexual revictimisation. In-depth interviews were conducted with victim/survivors (N = 11) living in regional and rural areas of Australia. Findings show that the failure of family, community and services to respond appropriately to participants' disclosures of violence and abuse was deeply entangled with rural infrastructure, isolated landscapes, fear of social isolation, victim-blaming discourses, idealisation of men in the community and limited relationship and sexuality education (RSE) in schools. These components collectively formed a manifestation of “slow violence,” which accumulated over the participants' life spans and gradually normalised relational violence. This paper draws attention to a complex interplay of cultural, material and interpersonal elements, including the culture and spaces of rural/regional communities, that establish conditions enhancing the likelihood of women experiencing sexual revictimisation.