Citation

Barbara G, Collini F, Cattaneo C, Facchin F, Vercellini P, Chiappa L, Kustermann A. J. Womens Health (Larchmont) 2017; 26(11): 1146-1149.

Affiliation

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Service for Sexual and Domestic Violence (SVSeD), Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda , Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy .

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/jwh.2016.6161

PMID

28318356

Abstract

Violence against women is a pervasive complex phenomenon that destroys women's feelings of love, trust, and self-esteem. In this commentary, we specifically focus on sexual violence against adolescent girls, whose impact is particularly harmful since it may lead to impaired mental health, social functioning, and neurodevelopment. Between 12% and 25% of adolescent girls throughout the world experience sexual violence, very often perpetrated by a family member or a friend. Moreover, for an alarming proportion of girls, the first sexual experience is coerced. In this article, we review the multiple negative effects of sexual violence against adolescent girls. We also report data derived from our practice in a public Italian referral Centre for Sexual and Domestic Violence (SVSeD) and address the importance of a multidisciplinary clinical approach with adolescent victims of sexual violence.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescent girls; gender violence; multidisciplinary clinical practice; prevalence of sexual violence