Abstract
The focus of this study was on female emergency medical personnel's experiences of treating women who have been raped and on their own experiences of being women themselves working in this situation. We interviewed 12 female medical personnel in four focus groups of two to five participants each. The material was analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Participants’ experiences were structured under two main themes: Prerequisites for care and Effects on oneself. As women, the participants emphasized their understanding of other women and stressed the importance of offering flexible care and taking time with each patient. They described how their work affected them personally, making them increasingly aware of men's violence against women and their need for support from their colleagues. They also discussed structural barriers to both patient care and self-care. If unaddressed, such shortcomings risk negatively affecting raped women seeking medical care and may also be detrimental to the health and well-being of the professional offering care.
Highlights
The focus of this study was on female emergency medical personnel’s experiences of treating women who have been raped and on their own experiences of being women themselves working in this situation
Sweden has a longer tradition of feminist efforts than most countries (Milles, 2011), the 2019 Swedish Crime Survey reported that 9.4% of all Swedish women had suffered at least one serious sexual assault that year (Brå, 2019)
We aimed to explore how female medical personnel experience these encounters and what possibilities they see for providing good care while taking care of themselves
Summary
The focus of this study was on female emergency medical personnel’s experiences of treating women who have been raped and on their own experiences of being women themselves working in this situation. The participants emphasized their understanding of other women and stressed the importance of offering flexible care and taking time with each patient. They described how their work affected them personally, making them increasingly aware of men’s violence against women and their need for support from their colleagues. They discussed structural barriers to both patient care and self-care. The distribution of women and men is more balanced; most gynaecologists are women (Statistics Sweden [SCB], 2020)
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