NCJ Number
132826
Date Published
1991
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This literature review focuses on the documented Canadian experience of the medical treatment of sexually abused children; it includes entry into the medical system, intake procedures, harms incurred, and followup.
Abstract
To date, the research indicates that medical intervention in child sexual abuse cases has focused primarily on cases that involve the overt disclosure of sexual assault. Medical treatment is apparently limited to acute physical injury or trauma associated with the assault including sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and medical corroboration of the assault for legal purposes. The contribution of the medical profession to the long-term treatment of child sexual abuse victims is unclear. Entry into the medical system for child sexual abuse victims apparently happens more by default than through planning. According to the 1984 Federal Report, physicians and police are the two groups from whom help was most often sought. The majority of physicians only come in contact with the children subsequent to disclosure of an alleged sexual assault primarily in the emergency room of a hospital. The findings of this review suggest the need to train hospital staff and private medical practitioners, particularly family physicians and pediatricians, in the recognition of behavioral, psychological, and physical indicators of sexual abuse; the psychosocial factors involved in physician reluctance to intervene; the physicians' moral and legal responsibility to report abuse suspicions, and possible intervention strategies. 206 references