Identifying an epistemology of hope through researching woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault

ABSTRACT

This auto/biographical account details my experience of generating what I would term an “Epistemology of Hope” through researching the traumatic experience of woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault. I focus on the recommendations (i.e., what we would hope to have happen) of myself and my respondents, as an outcome of engaging in my doctoral research. I suggest that woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault victim/survivors must be regarded as the owners and creators of knowledge regarding how best to respond to their needs and to the very reality of woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault.

KEYWORDS:

• Auto/biography
• epistemology
• hope
• methodologies
• occupational science
• rape
• sexual assault
• victim/survivors
• woman-to-woman

Acknowledgments

I gratefully acknowledge the support and supervision I received through my doctoral studies from Professor Gayle Letherby and Dr Anita Slade. A huge thank you to the respondents involved in my research for sharing their stories with me.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rebecca Twinley

The author is a full-time lecturer in occupational therapy at Plymouth University. Before commencing this role, she worked as an occupational therapist in social care and NHS settings. In May 2016, she was awarded her PhD, exploring the perceived impacts of woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault and the subsequent experience of disclosure, reaction, and support on victim/survivors’ subjective experience of occupation.