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With the prevalence of sexual violence in most countries and its increase in Sweden, it is important to understand the development of secondary traumatic reactions among professionals who work with sexually violated clients. The aim of this study was to describe the meaning of therapists' personal experiences when treating survivors of sexual violence. We conducted a qualitative interview study of therapists in Sweden (N = 11) using thematic analysis and adding a phenomenological openess towards the phenomenon. The participants were all women, with different professional backgrounds and with further education in areas such as psychotherapy, sexology, trauma treatment, and forensic nursing. The essential meaning of their work could be described as a continuum where therapists were seeking balance between contradictory experiences, further described in four themes. They experienced their work as highly meaningful, and the use of self-care strategies helped to maintain protective boundaries. However, the incomprehensible violence they were indirectly exposed to, challenged their protective boundaries, thus causing negative reactions for the therapists. Increased understanding of the impact of work on therapists' professional and private lives is crucial, and the need for therapists to have a model or framework of meaning and explanation for sexual violence that ties contradictory experiences together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the nexus of cultural appropriateness, arts-based care, and well-being in sensitive research on sexual violence, with a focus on New Zealand’s Asian community. Drawing on the author’s background as an Asian immigrant arts-based researcher, this study underscores the pivotal role of care, both culturally and through arts-based approaches, in facilitating understanding and expression. Emphasizing the importance of caring for both research participants and the researcher’s own well-being, the article advocates for culturally sensitive practices throughout the research process. It demonstrates how arts-based research methods enable creative expression and deeper cultural comprehension, enhancing care provision for participants. Moreover, the article highlights the need for culturally sensitive self-care strategies for researchers, acknowledging the emotional toll of engaging with sensitive topics. Ultimately, it calls for a more compassionate, culturally attuned, and ethically grounded approach to sensitive research within diverse cultural contexts.

Reports of sexual violence against young women have been increasing. Due to limited support, young women who experience sexual violence have difficulties in healing, resulting in long‐term consequences for individuals and society. We used grounded theory combined with a Photovoice approach to explore young women's experience of healing from sexual violence. From interviews and Photovoice activities of 29 participants, we identified a social process of healing that included internalizing anger, cutting off connections, reaching a turning point with support, restoring connections, struggling through individual internal processes, and transforming sexual violence into a stepping stone. The process of healing from sexual violence identified in this study shows commonalities as well as cultural and age‐specific aspects from experiences of sexual violence among young women. In addition, this theory presented a new perspective on healing that contrasts with the past belief that disclosure is the key to healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disempowering role played by the "familial space" in context of sexual violence on girls and women, and how the family becomes a barrier in taking action for sexual offences is explored. The study is with girls from slums of a major city in India in order to understand their lived experience of sexual violence perpetrated by family members and to gain insight by using expressive arts for healing. It is a qualitative research based on hermeneutic phenomenology. The primary data collection has been done through in-depth interviews of six girls and data was also collected through visual arts sessions that were conducted especially to facilitate catharsis and release of pain and trauma. Each story was a tale of great pain, anger and emotional distress, and the findings are grouped thematically. The participants spent over two hours working on their masks and later speaking about the masks they have to wear in life for the roles they play within the family system. Trauma from sexual abuse/assault is an extremely pervasive and is hidden most often by the family. Sexual violence is a human rights violation that predominantly affects women and girls as a consequence of systemic and structural inequality has been proven over and over again. The girls who were struggling to feel empowered with education and skills for gainful employment, didn't understand what stopped them from reaching their full potential. That families are disempowering spaces for many women and children needs acknowledgement publicly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]