Sexual abuse in the immigrant population - experiences with seeking help and reporting

The researchers will investigate whether individuals of immigrant background who have been exposed to sexual abuse are less likely to seek help or report to the police than victims without this background.

The project is about help-seeking and reporting among people in the immigrant population who have been exposed to sexual abuse / abuse / rape. The starting point is an assumption that this group is less likely to seek help or report to the police than victims without an immigrant background. The purpose is to gain increased knowledge about whether this assumption is correct, what in that case may be the causes and consequences of this and what can be done to encourage more victims to seek help and report sexual abuse.

Given the project's limited framework, data will mainly consist of experiences and reflections from agencies that have contact with those who have actually sought help and / or reported. Particular emphasis will be placed on identifying factors that inhibit or promote that people in the target group seek help and possibly report sexual abuse.

Research design 

1.  Review of relevant research and statistics on sexual abuse/rape and propensity to seek help and / or report to the police in the immigrant population in Norway, compared with the equivalent in the general population.
2. Qualitative interview study among relevant services in the public and civil sector that have direct contact with the target group.
3. Qualitative interviews with a small number of key informants with experience of sexual abuse.