Unpacking Northern Ontario’s sexual assault evidence kits: a mixed methods approach to understanding the barriers preventing comprehensive care for survivors
Notice bibliographique
Résumé
Background: Sexual assault evidence kits (SAEKs) are used to gather forensic evidence from survivors following sexual assault. Forensic evidence collection also coincides with comprehensive post-assault care and referrals to follow-up services. One third of Canadian women have experienced sexual assault, however many hospitals lack staff trained in SAEKs and sexual assault care. Most of these deficits fall in rural areas, forcing survivors to travel long distances to receive care; Northern communities are known to especially lack access to comprehensive sexual assault care and SAEKs. This lack of resources has implications for both rural and urban Northern communities, and can also result in re-traumatization and poor survivor mental health.Objectives: This study aimed to gain insight into the current state of post-sexual assault care in Northwestern Ontario from the perspective of healthcare providers, and to assess challenges to SAEK access in the North, with the ultimate aim of informing better access to care.Methods: We employed a sequential explanatory mixed methods design. An online survey of healthcare providers working in 11 communities based in Northwestern Ontario was completed. The questionnaire was used to gain an overall picture of Northern healthcare providers’ access to SAEKs in their communities. The survey was followed by nine in-depth semi-structured interviews with healthcare providers from Northwestern Ontario. The interviews covered content about barriers and recommendations to providing sexual assault care, as well as psychosocial supports available to practitioners and the training they have received. Interview transcripts were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis approach.Findings: The findings of this study include four overarching barriers and one provider recommendations theme. These barriers and recommendations were found in both the survey and interview phases of the study. Barriers to care provision included poor training and fear of legal implications, lack of supports, resource constraints, and socio-cultural barriers related to the credibility and believability of survivors. Difficulties for care arose related to rurality, the ‘triage, treat, transfer’ nature of Emergency Departments, limited psycho-social supports for providers, and the lack of specialized sexual assault nurse examiners. Additionally, rape myths and stereotypes were noted as barriers to equitable care. Conclusion: Sexual assault trauma hinders many survivors from seeking care, especially when care has been inadequate in the past. It is essential that few barriers deter post-assault care, and that the care received is comprehensive and trauma-informed. This research will provide further insight into the rural health challenges of Northern Canada, as well as the difficulties faced in the provision of sexual assault care
Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.
Comment cette classification a été obtenuedéplier
Prédiction distillée sur la base complète
Imitation des enseignantsNi prévalence calibrée, ni vérité terrain. Validation humaine à venir. Apprise à partir de 10 348 étiquettes directes de Codex et de 10 348 étiquettes directes de Gemma. Le mode candidate est l'union des têtes enseignantes seuillées; le consensus est leur intersection. Ces sorties portent le statut machine_predicted_unvalidated et ne sont ni des étiquettes humaines ni des étiquettes directes de modèles de pointe.
Scores Codex et Gemma par catégorie
| Catégorie | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Métarecherche | 0,002 | 0,002 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens strict) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens large) | 0,001 | 0,000 |
| Bibliométrie | 0,000 | 0,001 |
| Études des sciences et des technologies | 0,004 | 0,000 |
| Communication savante | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Science ouverte | 0,001 | 0,000 |
| Intégrité de la recherche | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Charge utile insuffisante (le modèle a refusé de juger) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
Scores machine (provisoires)
Les deux têtes enseignantes du modèle étudiant, lues sur ce travail. Un score ordonne la base pour la relecture; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie, et le statut de validation accompagne chaque rangée tel quel.
Scores de référence d'un modèle non mature (critères de maturité non atteints, 7 itérations). Un score ordonne; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · tel quel depuis la passe de notation : score_only signifie que le nombre peut ordonner les travaux, et qu'aucune étiquette de catégorie n'en découleClassification
machine, non validéePrédiction automatique; un appel candidat d’une seule tête enseignante, pas un consensus.
Le détail, modèle par modèle et score par score, se trouve en fin de page sous « Comment cette classification a été obtenue ».