The gender-sensitive care project: Exploring sexual violence in psychiatric inpatient units

Abstract

Sexual violence is a major global public health issue. There are strong associations between sexual violence victimisation and mental illness, with one in three women presenting at mental health services have experienced domestic violence, including sexual violence. Women often report feeling disempowered and re-victimised while in psychiatric inpatient units, especially in mixed-gender wards. The biomedical model has been the dominant model of care in psychiatric inpatient units. Recent years have seen a global movement towards gender-sensitive and trauma-informed models of care for those with mental illness. To date, there is limited extant research focused on understanding health profess..