Focus group approach was used to explore concepts related to rape and sexual abuse among 17 Mexican immigrant women living in rural Arizona. The women discussed definitions of various forms of unwanted sexual experiences, their personal knowledge of someone who had been raped or sexually abused, and their perceptions of the roots of sexual abuse. Distinctions between rapto and violación, child versus adult rape (including marital rape), motivations for rape, and social factors contributing to victim silencing were identified. The meaning and perceived impact of rape reflected the gender relations of the culture. Keeping silent was a consistent theme, underscoring the difficulties of accurately assessing rape prevalence in Latinas. Research, prevention, intervention, and treatment programs need to recognize the social context and impact of rape and be designed accordingly. Participants reported many rape experiences, suggesting that underreporting is a major problem in estimating rape prevalence for Latinas.
The results suggest the need to increase treatment coverage to attend the consequences of violence, taking into consideration the important gender and age variations.
The CES-D-R has excellent psychometric characteristics for Mexican adolescents and therefore is deemed as an adequate tool for the assessment of depressive symptoms in large samples to detect mental health needs and design preventive interventions.
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