Network articles from March 22 2005

Network archives from March 22 2005

Nonconsensual sex undermines sexual health: young and old, females and males are at risk.
March 22, 2005... KEY POINTS * Forced sex is associated with serious reproductive health problems. * Many victims are young and female, but older individuals and males are also at risk. * Nonconsensual sex is a worldwide problem often rooted in...

More research needed, but what next?
March 22, 2005... More research is needed to create evidence-based policies, programs, and provider practices to prevent and address the widespread problem of nonconsensual sex. Issues that require attention include: * Gaps in the research. Limited...

Rape by strangers: punishment and terror.
March 22, 2005... Rape by strangers, although less common and less likely to be repeated than forced sex by known perpetrators, still often results in unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Violent forced sex often results in...

Traditions can imprison women.(cultural customs and gender norms in which women cannot escape from nonconsensual sex)
March 22, 2005... Cultural customs and gender norms can lock girls and women into relationships in which nonconsensual sex is inescapable. Child marriage, for example, is a custom that often results in girls experiencing forced and traumatic first sex with their...

Gender norms underlie sexual coercion.(non-consensual sex)
March 22, 2005... Nonconsensual sex is an abuse of power commonly rooted in gender norms--societal assumptions and expectations about what it means to be male or female. In many cultures, gender norms for females include submissiveness, deference to male...

One boy's experience: ashamed and afraid.(sexual abuse)
March 22, 2005... Thirteen-year-old Mukesh (not his real name) was visiting his aunt when an older boy from the neighborhood lured him to a secluded area and forced him to have sexual relations. Ashamed and afraid of the consequences of reporting the incident,...

Marital sexual violence is 'a terrifying experience'.(marriage and sex)
March 22, 2005... "It was a terrifying experience. When I tried to resist, he pinned my arms above my head. It was so painful and suffocating that I fainted, for I only remember getting up in the morning and finding stains of blood on the bed sheet. My husband...

'I was alive but not living ...'.(sexual abuse)
March 22, 2005... "It was April 2002. They knocked on the door of our home and we opened it up because we thought it must be the neighbors stopping by to say hello. But it wasn't the neighbors. It was six armed men. They pushed their way into our home with their...

Virginity testing raises many questions.(Voices from the Field)
March 22, 2005... Imagine being Rudo (not her real name), a 16-year-old girl living in an area of Zimbabwe where girls are tested for virginity. Rudo's turn to be examined comes. An elderly woman asks her to lie down, opens her legs, and then inserts into...

Helping victims of sexual coercion: provider's role depends on available resources and support.
March 22, 2005... KEY POINTS * Reproductive health care providers may be able to offer counseling, medical, and referral services. * Addressing nonconsensual sex and other forms of violence against women within reproductive health services can improve...

Advisability of screening for violence debated.
March 22, 2005... Fearing disbelief, blame, or retribution, many victims of forced sex tell no one about their experiences--unless they are asked. (1) Routine screening for physical and sexual abuse by intimate partners is recommended by several professional...

How providers can help.(sexual coercion preventiion)
March 22, 2005... Providers can help clients cope with the effects of sexual coercion and prevent further abuse in many ways. They can: Recognize warning signs. Warning signs--such as recurrent sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unplanned pregnancy,...

Research on postexposure prophylaxis for HIV.
March 22, 2005... Antiretroviral treatment of rape victims definitely or probably exposed to HIV during their assaults can be cost-effective in countries with high HIV prevalence. It also may be affordable in a middle-income country like South Africa, a recent...

Keys to preventing nonconsensual sex: promising interventions include multifaceted approaches, specific targets.
March 22, 2005... KEY POINTS * More interventions to prevent nonconsensual sex in the developing world need to be well documented and evaluated. * A multifaceted approach to prevention is recommended. * Interventions should have specific targets and...

Focus on primary prevention.
March 22, 2005... Prevention efforts fall into the two main categories of primary and secondary prevention. Primary prevention aims to intervene before nonconsensual sex can occur, such as by implementing community campaigns to alter gender norms. Secondary...

Programs for perpetrators.
March 22, 2005... The idea of preventing nonconsensual sex by rehabilitating perpetrators is beginning to spread from industrialized countries to the developing world. Thus, recommendations on how to make these treatment programs most effective could not be more...

Men giving up violence.
March 22, 2005... An increasing number of men in Peru apparently wish to change their lives because their physical or sexual abuse of female partners has created a life crisis: Those female partners have either already left them or plan to do so. ...

A link between nonconsensual sex and HIV prevention.
March 22, 2005... Evidence from the literature supports integrating components of nonconsensual sex prevention into HIV prevention programs and, conversely, including HIV prevention messages in programs to prevent nonconsensual sex. Analysis of data from...

Sexual violence web resources reviews.(Resources)
March 22, 2005... http://www.globalforumhealth.org/filesupld/vaw/litrev.html Mapping a Global Pandemic: Review of Current Literature on Rape, Sexual Assault and Harassment of Women Consultation on Sexual Violence against Women (2000) provides analysis and a...