Happy, Healthy Women, Not Just Survivors is a joint advocacy initiative between the Australian Women’s Coalition (AWC), the Australian Federation of Medical Women (AFMW) and the Victorian Medical Women’s Society (VMWS). Following on from the national summit, a briefing paper has been released that provides the background information, evidence and educational resources to inform and highlight the issues that need to be addressed to safely and effectively meet the needs of sexual violence survivors over a lifetime.
Sexual violence is a common experience for women in Australia, with 1 in 3 reporting sexual violence over their lifetimes and 1 in 10 reporting penetrative or attempted penetrative sexual abuse. Significant health consequences result over a lifetime, and with domestic violence, sexual violence is responsible for the greatest burden of disease for women aged 18-45 years. In spite of this, women who experience sexual violence are reluctant to access healthcare services. There is a critical dissonance between survivors’ needs and service provision.
This paper reviews the literature on the long-term physical and psychological health impacts of sexual trauma in women and overviews how this knowledge translates into medical education and best practice in medical treatment in Australia. It incorporates the views of stakeholders at the recent national, multidisciplinary ‘Happy Healthy Women, Not Just Survivors Summit’ who, like the VMWS and the AFMW, regard sexual violence against women as a human rights and social justice issue as well as a major public health problem.
The paper:
(1) advocates for a long-term model of care for survivors of sexual violence.
(2) acknowledges the Australian Government’s strong commitment to the prevention of violence against women and seeks to build on this commitment by addressing a gap in the national agenda relating to the long-term healthcare needs of the 1 in 3 Australian women who are survivors of sexual violence.
(3) advocates for the establishment of a multidisciplinary foundation or Centre of Excellence (including referral pathways to strengthen access to care) in order to drive the 25 recommendations in the report forward.
(4) is underpinned by an extensive consultation process and a review of the academic literature and tertiary teaching curricula.
(5) includes messages of support from Professor Afua Hesse (Past President, Medical Women’s International Association); Libby Lloyd AM (Chair VAWAG); and Dr Michael Steiner (President AMA NSW).
Click here to download the briefing paper Happy, Healthy Women, Not Just Survivors.
