The purpose of this report was to assess the prevalence of sexual violence over the life course and the impacts of experiencing sexual violence on health and wellbeing among Australian women using national, longitudinal data. The research had the following specific aims:

1. Determine the prevalence of sexual violence across the life course, including sexual violence experienced in childhood and adulthood, perpetrated both within an intimate relationship and outside of such a relationship.
2. Determine the role of sexual violence during childhood as a risk factor for experiences of multiple forms of violence later in life.
3. Identify the impact of sexual violence on socio-economic factors over time, such as education, paid employment and financial stress.
4. Determine the nature of associations between sexual violence experienced by women at different life stages and subsequent health behaviours.
5. Assess the impact of sexual violence on women’s physical and mental health.
6. Measure health service use in relation to sexual violence, including costs of selected health services and satisfaction with general practitioner services.
7. Identify factors associated with the general health and wellbeing of women who have experienced sexual violence.

Overall findings indicated that women experience sexual violence at a much higher prevalence than has been previously reported at the national level, especially among younger women. Sexual violence in childhood was found to be a risk factor for experiencing later violence. Experiencing sexual violence at any stage increased the risk of financial stress, adverse health behaviours (among women in their twenties and forties), and poor physical and mental health. Social support, mental health service use and physical activity were indicated as potentially beneficial to wellbeing among women who had experienced sexual violence.