A comparison of intimate partner and other sexual assault survivors’ use of different types of specialized hospital-based violence services

Abstract

BackgroundLittle is known about the health service utilization of women sexually assaulted by their intimate partners, as compared with those sexually assaulted by other perpetrators. To address this gap, we describe the use of acute care services post-victimization, as well as a broad range of survivor and assault characteristics, across women assaulted by current or former intimate partners, other known assailants, and strangers.MethodsInformation was gathered from individuals presenting to 30 hospital-based sexual assault and domestic violence treatment centres using a standardized data collection form. We examined the data from 619 women 16 years of age or older who were sexually assaulted by one assailant.ResultsWomen sexually assaulted by a current or former intimate partner were less likely than those assaulted by another known assailant or a stranger to have been administered emergency contraception (p < 0.001) or prophylaxis for sexually transmitted infections (p < 0.001), and counselled for potential use of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (p < 0.001). However, these women were more likely than those in the other two groups to have had their injuries documented with photographs (p < 0.001), have undergone a risk assessment (p = 0.008), and/or have engaged in safety planning (p < 0.001).ConclusionsWomen sexually assaulted by current or former intimate partners utilized services offered by sexual assault and domestic violence treatment centres differently than those assaulted by other known assailants and strangers. This may reflect their different health, forensic, and social needs, as well as the importance of offering care tailored to their particular circumstances.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12905-017-0408-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The case for “investigate all”: Assessing the cost‐effectiveness of investigating no CODIS hit cases in a sexual assault kit initiative

“…Additionally, the majority of sexual assaults from this jurisdiction's SAK initiative were committed by strangers (someone completely unknown to the victim) (58%) [6] vs. one-fourth of all sexual assaults [20,21]. This is likely because sexual assaults committed by strangers are more likely to be reported and more likely to have a kit collected [22]. Thus, there is strong investigative value in testing these kits because a substantial portion did not include a named suspect.…”

How, why, for whom and in what context, do sexual health clinics provide an environment for safe and supported disclosure of sexual violence: protocol for a realist review

“…An example of the contextual diversity in relation to accessing appropriate sexual healthcare is demonstrated by Du Mont et al were they found women who were sexually assaulted by a current or former partner were less likely than those assaulted by another known assailant or stranger to have been administered emergency contraception (p<0.001) or prophylaxis for sexually transmitted infections (p<0.001), or counselled for the potential use of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (p<0.001). 30 This review will employ a realist approach 31 to understand how, why, for whom and in what context, sexual health clinics provide an environment, for safe and box 1 A context-mechanism-outcome configuration related to sexual health clinics providing an environment for safe and supported disclosure of sexual violence If healthcare professionals are trained in trauma-informed care ('context') they will recognise the importance of, and offer, patient choice ('resource of mechanism'), so that patients feel empowered ('response of mechanism') and become more likely to make a disclosure ('outcome').…”

“…For example, men, older age groups, those with pre-existing mental health complaints and sexual violence occurring within intimate partner relationships were identified in the scoping exercise as groups experiencing additional barriers when considering disclosure of sexual violence. 30 47 49-52 Each of these may be important contexts during programme theory development.…”

Exploring Receipt of HIV PEP Counseling Among Women Sexually Assaulted by an Intimate Partner

“…The World Health Organization recommends counseling to discuss HIV risk and, where appropriate, the risk and benefits of HIV post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) medications as part of comprehensive care for victims of sexual assault [ 1 ]. Yet, in our recent study, it was found that receipt of HIV PEP counseling varied substantially by the relationship of the victim to the assailant: women sexually assaulted by an intimate partner were less likely than those assaulted by another known assailant or a stranger to receive HIV PEP counseling (41.0% vs 70.6% & 65.8%, respectively; p < 0.001) [ 2 ]. It is unclear why receipt of HIV PEP counseling was lower among women sexually assaulted by an intimate partner.…”

“…Nonetheless, the results of this study may help elucidate why receipt of HIV PEP counseling may have been, in our earlier research, relatively lower among women sexually assaulted by an intimate partner as compared to women assaulted by other assailants [ 2 ]. We found that among women sexually assaulted by an intimate partner those who did not receive HIV PEP counseling were more likely to have been older and married, common-law, or co-habiting, and less likely to have identified as a student, a sociodemographic profile that suggests they may be in more established relationships that place them at decreased risk for acquiring HIV.…”