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Treating the Adult Sexual Assault Victim: Evidence-Based Assessment and Treatment

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Handbook of Sexual Assault and Sexual Assault Prevention

Abstract

This chapter offers a summary of clinical responses to adult survivors of sexual violence. In this chapter, the efficacy of psychological and medical treatments for survivors, as well as current protocols and standards of care, is explored. The state of the evidence for acute care (i.e., immediate treatments provided to a survivor) and long-term care (i.e., psychological treatment that occurs over time) is reviewed. The availability and use of postexposure prophylaxis, deployed in emergency department settings for the prevention of sexual transmitted infection contraction, are also discussed. The chapter concludes by discussing limitations in care options, opportunities for research, and future directions in treatment for adult survivors of sexual trauma.

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Disclosure Statement: The authors declare that they have no relevant material financial interests related to the research outlined in this chapter. Further, this chapter has not been submitted to any research journal or other publication site.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    Nykia R. Leach & Lindsay M. Orchowski

  2. School of Public Health, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Nykia R. Leach

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Lindsay M. Orchowski

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Correspondence to Lindsay M. Orchowski .

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    William T. O’Donohue

  2. Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Paul A. Schewe

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Leach, N.R., Orchowski, L.M. (2019). Treating the Adult Sexual Assault Victim: Evidence-Based Assessment and Treatment. In: O’Donohue, W.T., Schewe, P.A. (eds) Handbook of Sexual Assault and Sexual Assault Prevention. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23645-8_29

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