Caring for long term health needs in women with a history of sexual trauma

Ades, Veronica; Goddard, Brian; Ayala, Savannah Pearson; Greene, Judy A.

doi:10.1136/bmj.l5825

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(49 reference statements)

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“…Practical implications of our results are that suicide prevention strategies43 among female athletics athletes should include targeting sexual abuse victimisation and strengthening the athletes’ personal psychological resources, while among male athletes the corresponding interventions should comprise coping strategies and problem solving skills. Female athletes with a sexual abuse history should be provided an opportunity to discuss what they have experienced, and individual care plans should be developed 44. At the societal level, efforts should be made to detect sexual abuse early and sports federations should formulate action plans for suicide prevention.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Suicidal thoughts (ideation) among elite athletics (track and field) athletes: associations with sports participation, psychological resourcefulness and having been a victim of sexual and/or physical abuse

et al. 2020

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ObjectiveTo examine associations between suicidal ideation and sexual and physical abuse among active and recently retired elite athletics (track and field) athletes.MethodsThe study population consisted of all athletes (n=402) selected for a Swedish Athletics team between 2011 and 2017. Data on suicidal ideation, suicidal events (estimated through the 1 year non-sports injury prevalence), lifetime abuse experiences, sociodemographics, sense of coherence and coping strategies were collected using a cross-sectional survey. The data were analysed using binary logistic regression with suicidal ideation and non-sports injury as outcomes.Results192 athletes (47.8%) returned data. The prevalence of suicidal ideation was 15.6% (men 17.4%; women 14.2%) and the non-sports injury prevalence was 8.0% (men 11.6%; women 5.7%). Among women, suicidal ideation was associated with having been sexually abused (OR 5.94, 95% CI 1.42 to 24.90; p=0.015) and lower sense of coherence (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.85 to 0.96; p=0.001) (Nagelkerke R2=0.33). Among men, suicidal ideation was only associated with use of behavioural disengagement for coping (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.95; p=0.001) (R2=0.25). Among women, non-sports injury prevalence was associated with having been sexually abused (OR 8.61, 95% CI 1.34 to 55.1; p=0.023) and participating in an endurance event (OR 7.37, 95% CI 1.11 to 48.9; p=0.039 (R2=0.23), while among men, having immigrant parents (OR 5.67, 95% CI 1.31 to 24.5; p=0.020) (R2=0.11) was associated with injury outside sports.ConclusionsAbout one out of six international athletics athletes reported having experienced suicidal ideation. World Athletics and National Olympic Committees need to include suicide prevention in their athlete protection programmes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Female athletes with a sexual abuse history should be provided an opportunity to discuss what they have experienced, and individual care plans should be developed. 44 At the societal level, efforts should be made to detect sexual abuse early and sports federations should formulate action plans for suicide prevention.…”

Section: Implications For Suicide Preventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicidal thoughts (ideation) among elite athletics (track and field) athletes: associations with sports participation, psychological resourcefulness and having been a victim of sexual and/or physical abuse

et al. 2020

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“…Ades and colleagues say that women who have experienced sexual violence require multidisciplinary, trauma informed care tackling their medical and psychological needs, either short or long term 1. Our sexual and domestic violence service, founded in 1996, adopts an integrated multidisciplinary approach, with a team composed of gynaecologists, psychologists, social workers, forensic practitioners, sexologists, lawyers, and paediatricians when needed 2…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual violence against women: a multidisciplinary integrated care model

Barbara

Facchin

Vercellini

et al. 2019

BMJ

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According to Ades and co-workers [1], clinical practice with women who experienced sexual violence requires multidisciplinary trauma-informed care addressing patients' medical and psychological needs, either short-or long-term. Following these key points, our Sexual and Domestic Violence Service (SVSeD, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy), founded in 1996, adopts an integrated multidisciplinary approach to assist victims, with a team composed of gynaecologists, psychologists, social workers, forensics, sexologists, lawyers, and paediatricians when needed [2].Besides medical and psychological assistance, meticulous examination, interpretation and documentation of genital and extragenital lesions, as well as correct evidence collection-e.g., DNA swabs, sperm slides, blood and urine samples to test for drug-facilitated rape-are fundamental, since they may affect possible legal proceedings. These practices entail high levels of specialization, as well as an effective collaboration between all the professionals involved. At the same time, physical examination and evidence collection should be conducted in full respect of women's dignity, which is an important component of victims' perception of justice [3]. A lack of sensitivity during these procedures may intensify psychological trauma by re-exposing women to objectification, in the sense of feeling treated like a body of evidence rather than a person of worth.

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“…We are concerned that Ades and colleagues’ paper on the long term health needs of women with a history of sexual trauma might give the impression that most women experience intimate partner violence—physical or sexual—as an isolated event 12. Intimate partner violence is often only one element (albeit the one most easily identified) of a prolonged experience of “intimate terrorism,” where their partner attempts to control them completely 3.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%