The Needs of Women Survivors of Rape: A Narrative Review

Background: Rape is a serious global problem linked to long-term physical health complications in women. Women survivors of rape have different needs, the identification of which ensures optimal services and improves their health conditions. This study aimed to explore the needs of women survivors of rape through a narrative review.

Materials and methods: This review was conducted by searching databases of ISI Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, Cochrane, PubMed, Scientific Information Database (SID), the Iranian Magazine Database (Magiran), Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IranDoc), Iranian Medical Articles Database (IranMedex), and the Google Scholar engine. All English and Persian articles published from January 2000 to August 2022 were searched using the keywords rape, sexual assault, sexual violence, victim, survivor, demands, and needs. Two independent researchers conducted all steps of article extraction and review to avoid possible bias, and a third person reviewed the articles in the case of disagreement between the two researchers. The final related articles were selected and evaluated using a pre-prepared checklist.

Results: Out of 112 articles, 26 articles were selected for final evaluation. The needs of women survivors of rape were divided into six categories, including sociocultural, educational, legal and judicial, psychological, spiritual and religious, and healthcare.

Conclusions: Women survivors of rape need survivor-centered, culturally appropriate services, necessitating careful planning and policymaking to address health and judicial issues from different dimensions considering their real-world needs.