First Weeks After Sexual Assault: Unveiling the Lived Experiences of Norwegian Survivors

Sexual assault is associated with severe consequences for survivors, especially in the initial time following the assault. This study contributes to the literature by interviewing 13 survivors in Norway 2 to 4 weeks after a sexual assault to understand their daily lives during this critical, yet understudied, time. Survivors' lived experiences were explored through a hermeneutic phenomenological analysis focusing on their personal perspectives and the meanings they ascribed to this period. Three essential themes emerged from analysis: The first theme, Losing ground, highlighted how difficult emotions, such as a sense of losing control, disrupted basic needs, while the second theme, Adapting to a changed life, captured survivors' longing for their pre-assault lives while confronting their new realities. The third and last theme, Where to go? exposed the challenges survivors faced in accessing comprehensive psychosocial support in the Norwegian healthcare system. These early experiences may further elucidate how sexual assault acutely impacts survivors as well as why survivors sometimes struggle to seek, or follow up on, treatment and underscore the need for both immediate and continuous formal psychosocial support in Norway. The findings of this study thereby have significant implications for understanding and enhancing knowledge about survivors' experiences in the initial weeks following a sexual assault.