Gynecological care among women reporting sexual violence: a qualitative study

Introduction. - Sexual violence can be followed by different levels of gynecological care. Our objective was to characterise gynecological care and to identify the related factors among women who had reported sexual violence.Methods. - Twenty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted among adult women who reported sexual violence during childhood or as adults. Topics addressed included gynecological health, gynecological care and experienced violence,Results. - Interviewed women, aged 20-60, had a good professional integration and a high level of education. The violence had often been committed by a relative or acquaintance. For the women interviewed, the least use of gynecological care was motivated by a desire to avoid the gynecological examination. Among women who had regular check-ups, the desire to conform to the norm explained their need for gynecological check-ups, which was similar to that of women who had never been subjected to violence. Lastly, some care pathways were characterised by multiple recourse of gynecological care for complaints with identical motives. The women interviewed expected professionals to spontaneously identify the violence they had suffered and the gynecological consequences attributed to such violence.Conclusion. - Individual and interpersonal differences in levels of gynecological care use were related to the characteristics of the violence and its perceived effects on gynecological health. It would be interesting to extend this research by examining the care pathways of women with other socioeconomic characteristics. A quantitative study would measure the association between violence and the use of gynecological care.& COPY; 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.