An integrative review of care networks for adolescents who have experienced sexual violence

Interventions aimed at children and adolescents who have suffered sexual violence should be coordinated across different services and include a range of actors if they are to ensure comprehensive, interdisciplinary and continuous care. Sexual violence against adolescents involves specific issues, such as the risk of pregnancy, abortion, the right to emergency contraception, and the difficulty some people have in discerning between violence and consent. The objective of this study was to identify and analyze national literature on care networks for adolescents who have experienced sexual violence. We conducted an integrative literature review, performing a content analysis of 11 articles focusing on the following five thematic categories: concepts of networks, network-based care services, network-based care practices, difficulties in implementing network-based care, and proposals for network-based care. Few of the analyzed articles presented a definition of care networks or described how they work. The findings show that literature focusing specifically on care networks for adolescents who have experienced sexual violence is scarce. Finally, it was noted that few articles discussed the role of the family, health regions and other potentially important actors in care networks.