Women's experience of receiving care during acute consultation after a sexual assault

Siri Haugan1,2, Cecilie Therese Hagemann3,4, Kjersti Alsaker5,6

  • 1Department of Health Sciences in Aalesund, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Aalesund, Norway.

The researchers in this study aimed to explore patients' lived experience of care in the acute phase following a sexual assault using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Interviews were conducted with thirteen women who had experienced a consultation at a sexual assault center. Three essential themes described their experiences of care: the meaning of being met with recognition and security, being given time to tell their story, and the striving between denial and acceptance of bodily reactions after the assault. Our findings have implications for the quality of care in any setting in the acute phase after a sexual assault.

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