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Intimate Partner Sexual Abuse Among Women on Methadone

NCJ Number
191949
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 16 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2001 Pages: 553-564
Author(s)
Victoria Frye; Nabila El-Bassel; Louisa Gilbert; Valli Rajah; Nicole Christie
Date Published
October 2001
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article reports findings on the prevalence and correlates of intimate partner sexual abuse among a sample of women in methadone treatment.
Abstract
During the course of an intimate relationship, 15 percent of women had experienced intimate partner sexual assault and 47 percent were sexually assaulted and/or coerced. Women who were sexually abused in the 12 months prior to the interview tended also to be physically abused by intimate partners. Women who were unemployed, poor, crack-cocaine or injecting-drug users, or were physically and/or sexually abused as children were at increased risk of experiencing intimate partner sexual abuse in adulthood. In multivariate models, only extreme poverty and sexual abuse in childhood emerged as risk factors for intimate partner sexual abuse in adulthood. The article recommends collaborative efforts by treatment professionals and researchers to create and test model interventions that help women on methadone reduce the negative impact of intimate partner sexual abuse and to improve their ability to avoid and respond to such abuse. Tables, references