3/03/09 Copyright holder has granted permission to make copies as required. See Objective id zA98924

This report provides a summary of research into the 1997 client group of the National Collective of Rape Crisis and Related Groups of Aotearoa Incorporated. These clients were primarily survivors of incest. The research explored the definition of incest with reference to law, culture, social relationships and abusive behaviours. Rape Crisis staff were provided with training and resources to maximise the quantity and quality of information collected for this research, and client information forms were processed monthly. Rape Crisis client demographics were recorded, including gender, ethnicity and age at contact with the service. The vast majority of survivors were female (94.9%) and most clients were adults when they contacted Rape Crisis (89.2%). The nature of the reported abuse is discussed, including the type of sexual violence, the recency of the abuse, the age when the abuse occurred, multiple incidences of abuse, and the survivors' relationship with the offender. In 9 out of 10 reports of sexual violence to Rape Crisis in 1997, the victim knew the sexual offender when the abuse began.

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