Abstract
Disclosure of sexual assault is considered necessary for survivor’s recovery. The act of disclosuring,
however, is found to be complicated, particularly when disclosing to one’s family. Whilst South
African literature demonstrates the psychological distress and difficulty of disclosing sexual trauma,
many have explored the experiences of child sexual abuse. The current study aimed to address the
literature gap by focusing on adult sexual assault survivors support in the aftermath of their disclosure
to their loved ones, through the use of an Interpretative Phenomenological Approach. Semi-structured
interviews were conducted with five participants. The five main themes that were revealed included
(i) disclosure and its (in)validating effects, (ii) fear of disclosure, (iii) knowledge on sexual assault,
(iv) hijacking of trauma, and (v) diminishing the survivor’s voice and secondary victimisation. This
study holds the polarities of both the neccessity and counterproductiveness of disclosuring sexual
trauma to one’s family, which illuminates potential support interventions.
Key words: disclosure; familial support; interpretative phenomenological analyses; sexual assault.