Women’s perceptions of emergency visits with Swedish health care workers following rape

<p dir="ltr">The focus of this study is on women’s perceptions of emergency visits with Swedish healthcare workers following rape. An online questionnaire was distributed and respondents included 106 women, aged 18–64 years old. Results show that raped women generally perceived their encounters as empathic, validating, and trustful. However, women seeking care at the specialised unit reported a higher quality in encounters. Questions were perceived as more relevant and empathic and as less blaming and intrusive if the questions had been explained. Higher quality in encounters correlated to perceptions of the gynecological examination as more safe and caring, and as less intrusive. Quality of encounters explained a significant amount of the variance in level of trust in healthcare. The study confirms earlier studies of the importance of quality of encounters with professionals after a sexual assault. This knowledge should be taken into consideration when planning future care for victims of rape.</p>