Disclosure and continued criminal justice participation among adult female primary victims of sexual predation in Pangasinan: A qualitative exploratory study

Aim: This study examined factors influencing disclosure, nondisclosure, and continued criminal justice participation among adult female primary victims of sexual predation in Pangasinan.It also sought to translate survivors' experiences and frontline professional perspectives into policy-relevant and survivor-centered institutional responses.Methodology: A qualitative exploratory research design was employed.Ten participants, comprising four adult female primary victims and six frontline professionals, were selected through purposive sampling supported by snowball sampling.Data were gathered through 60-90-minute semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis.Findings: Disclosure emerged as a dynamic and relational process shaped by fear, perceived danger, dependency, trauma, self-blame, shame, stigma, and anticipated consequences.Trust, validation, protection, empowerment, and responsive support facilitated disclosure.Continued criminal justice participation was constrained by uneven awareness, procedural delays, repeated narration, intimidation, financial concerns, perpetrator encounters, and fragmented services, but was strengthened by legal assistance, clear orientation, protection, and coordinated institutional support.The findings informed the SAFE VOICE Program, emphasizing survivor-centered support, facilitated justice, empowerment, trauma-informed services, interagency coordination, and continuous evaluation.Conclusion: Disclosure and continued criminal justice participation were shaped not only by individual willingness but also by safety, social responses, structural burdens, and access to responsive support.The study provided localized evidence for strengthening coordinated, accessible, trauma-informed, and survivor-centered law enforcement and criminal justice responses to sexual victimization in Philippine provincial settings.