HJNO Jul/Aug 2024

SEXUAL VIOLENCE 12 JUL / AUG 2024 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   throughout a woman’s life, can maintain confidentiality, and can offer supportive referrals to counselors, social workers, and rape crisis and domestic violence program- ming. The importance of the role of provid- ers cannot be overstated, as they are often in a position as a first-line support to those who have experienced this violence. 4 Too many providers do not consider or assess history of sexual violence among their patients, creating a missed opportu- nity for intervention. There are two major barriers to healthcare providers deliver- ing an adequate first response. The first is the lack of standardized assessment tools. Few tools exist to assess for sexual assault in clinical settings. Even fewer, or none, exist to assess for verbal and cyber sexual harassment and for sexual and dating vio- lence exposures with young adolescents.1 The second is lack of training. Studies show that sexual assault training programs for healthcare providers is beneficial for provid- ers as well as patients in supporting quality Any form of sexual violence Verbal Harassment, Cyber Harassment, Trans- or Homophobic Harassment Physically Aggressive, Coercive, or Forced Sexual Behavior Family Member 18+ 12% 10% 12% Family Member < 18 4% 3% 9% Spouse/Partner 21% 12% 44% Known Non-Family 25% 21% 29% Acquaintance or Community Member 42% 38% 36% Stranger 69% 71% 23% Teacher/Coach/ Adult Authority 3% 2% 2% Police 2% 1% 1% Boss/Employer 5% 5% 3% Other 0% 0% 0% Table 1. Relationship to the person(s) causing past year sexual violence against the respondent.