Health Care-Based Interventions for Women Who Have Experienced Sexual Violence: A Review of the Literature

• NCJ Number: 217582
• Journal: Trauma, Violence, & Abuse: A Review Journal Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2007 Pages: 3-18
• Author(s): Sandra L. Martin; Siobhan K. Young; Deborah L. Billings; C. Christopher Bross
• Date Published: January 2007
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation; Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper reports on a review of 30 studies that evaluated health-care interventions for women who had been victimized by sexual violence.

Abstract

The studies show the importance of clinicians' training and attitudes, as well as health-care protocols in ensuring that high-quality care is provided to women who have been sexually assaulted. Studies found that sexual assault treatment settings that focused on health care for victims attracted more sexual assault survivors than forensic-based settings. More than one-half of sexual assault survivors preferred a dual regimen of medication and counseling treatment. Because few studies have compared the effectiveness of two or more health-care interventions for sexual assault victims, this review recommends that clinicians and researchers work together to develop, implement, and evaluate new approaches for serving sexual assault patients. Few of the studies solicited patients' perspectives on the care they received; therefore, this review recommends the integration of qualitative patient assessment into quantitative studies. The studies that surveyed clinicians who provided care for sexual assault victims found that not all hospital emergency departments had written protocols regarding required care for sexual assault victims; and few emergency department staff had specialized training in sexual assault treatment protocol. Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs provided appropriate sexual assault assessment and/or care but did not always know the legal outcomes of a case. Clinicians who viewed rape as a serious problem and had more experience in caring for rape survivors provided more appropriate and comprehensive health care for sexual assault victims than those without specialized training. All of the studies reviewed were published between January 1990 and June 2005. All focused on the collection and analysis of empirical data about health care services for sexual assault survivors. 30 references and 5 suggested readings