Piloting sexual assault care centres in Belgium: who do they reach and what care is offered?

Abstract

Background: Sexual assault (SA) is highly prevalent in Belgium. In order to mitigate the negative consequences for victims of acute SA, Sexual Assault Care Centres (SACCs) were piloted from October 2017 to October 2018 in three Belgian hospitals. SACCs offer medical and psychological care, forensic examination and the possibility to report to the police at the SACC. Objective: Aiming to improve SACC services, we quantitatively assessed the number and characteristics of victims attending the SACC, the SA they experienced, and the care they received over 12 months upon admission. Method: Data on victims presenting at the SACC were routinely collected in electronic patient files by the SACC personnel between 25 October 2017 and 31 October 2019. These data were analysed in IBM SPSS Statistics 25. Results: Within the first year 931 victims attended the SACCs. Mean age was 24.5 years (SD = 12.8), and one-third were under 18. The majority were female (90.5%) and 63.1% presented for rape. About one-third of the victims were considered vulnerable due to previous SA (35.6%), prior psychiatric consultation (38.7%) or disability (8.5%). The assailant was known to the victim in 59.2% of the cases. Of all SACC presentations, 35.2% self-referred to the SACC while 40.9% were referred by the police. Two out of three victims attended the SACC within 72 h post-assault. Respectively 74.7% of victims received medical care, 60.6% a forensic examination, 50.2% psychological care, and 68.7% reported to the police. Conclusion: Despite the absence of promotion campaigns, the SACCs received a high number of victims during the pilot year. Use of acute and follow-up services was high, although new approaches to offer more accessible psychological support should be explored. The big proportion of vulnerable victims warrants careful monitoring and adaptation of care pathways. Pilotaje de Centros de Atención de Asalto Sexual en Bélgica: ¿A Quiénes Llegan y qué Atenciones son Ofrecidas?Antecedentes: El asalto sexual (SA en si sigla en inglés) es altamente prevalente en Bélgica. Para mitigar las consecuencias negativas para las víctimas de SA agudo, los Centros de Atención de Asalto Sexual (SACCs en su sigla en inglés) fueron piloteados desde octubre de 2017 hasta octubre 2018 en tres hospitales belgas. Los SACCs ofrecen atención médica y psicológica, examen forense y la posibilidad de reportar a la policía en el SACC. Objetivo: Para mejorar los servicios SACC, medimos cuantitativamente el número y las características de las víctimas atendidas por el SACC, el SA que experimentaron y la atención que recibieron a lo largo de los 12 meses desde su admisión. Método: Fueron recolectados rutinariamente los datos en las víctimas que se presentaron en el SACC por el personal de SACC en los archivos electrónicos de los pacientes entre el 25 de octubre 2017 y 31 de octubre de 2019. Estos datos fueron analizados en el Programa Estadístico IBM SPSS 25. Resultados: Dentro del primer año, 931 victimas asistieron a los SCCs. La edad media fue 24,5 (DE = 12.8), ...

Mental health of sexual assault victims and predictors of their use of support from in-house psychologists at Belgian sexual assault care centres

“…The novel SACC-intervention is unique for its one-stop model both in Belgium and in Europe. SACCs provide acute medical care, a forensic examination and case management offered by a forensic nurse, along with long-term mental health support from a trauma psychologist and the possibility to report to the police at the SACC (Baert et al, 2021 ). All of these services are free of charge.…”

Sexual assault as a public health problem and other developments in psychotraumatology

“…Why does this still happen, after decades of advocacy on this issue and five years of #MeToo? Why is there an increasing need for specialized sexual assault care centres (Baert et al, 2021 ; Covers et al, 2021 )? What are the broader societal-level factors at play, and how do we change them?…”

Interpersonal psychotherapy versus sertraline for women with posttraumatic stress disorder following recent sexual assault: a randomized clinical trial

“…Women who undergo sexual assault experience intense and prolonged psychological distress, and approximately half of them develop PTSD (Luz et al, 2016 ; Mills et al, 2006 ). Although the literature shows an increasing number of women receiving legal, medical, and psychological attention for sexual trauma in recent years (Baert et al, 2021 ; Breiding et al, 2014 ; Elkin, 2019 ), sexual assault survivors often do not receive adequate treatment for PTSD (Bach et al, 2021 ; Massaro et al, 2019 ; Olff, 2022 ). Difficulties in treatment access and poor adherence are well-documented (Ackerman et al, 2006 ; Boykins & Mynatt, 2007 ; Darnell et al, 2015 ; Holmes et al, 1998 ).…”