Table 3.

Length of abuse/violence and reasons for not reporting

Length of time of the abuse for each (n = 7) participant	Reason for not reporting
20–30 times	Scared, last time was 4 years ago while on probation.
2 times	Scared of more violence. It has affected her mental health till this day.
3 times	She tried, but the perpetrator was her mom’s boyfriend. When she told her family, nobody believed her. She was on parole and her parole officer was the only one that believed her and helped her report it. The courts decided since his penis was “flaccid”, it wasn’t considered an assault.
1 time	It was during her substance use disorder and she figured nobody would take her seriously.
15 years	Fear of retaliation, CPS involvement, fear for the safety of her children, and shame from family and friends
Throughout childhood	Fear of retaliation from family. Her dad, the perpetrator was a preacher
1	Was in jail at the time