The global, survivor-led #MeToo movement against sexual violence has raised greater awareness about its magnitude, but also its intractability. Sexual violence is still viewed as an interpersonal issue, but sexual violence is ultimately linked to societal norms that perpetuate rape culture and engendered by inequitable power relations across multiple domains of society. Global research funding for sexual violence still remains inadequate; due to the challenges of measurement, sexual violence research is overrepresented by observational studies, inadequate surveillance, and those that focus on addressing treatment, rather than primary prevention.
The journal, Global Public Health, is issuing a call for manuscripts for the Article Collection, “Sexual Violence: Novel Approaches in Global Public Health.” This collection seeks to highlight novel, global work that is being conducted in order to move the sexual violence field forward and to provide the evidence-base to bolster the global advocacy movements that seek to address sexual violence. Of particular interest are relevant review articles and/or research articles that focus on the following subtopics:
- Presentation of novel methods to understand and address sexual violence beyond the individual-level of influence
- Studies that consider the intersection of multiple structural-factors and their impact on sexual violence
- Studies that leverage trauma-informed approaches
- Survivor- and/or community-led initiatives
- Understanding or improving primary prevention of sexual violence
- Studies that integrate violence with other co-occurring health outcomes, including through the use of Syndemics Theory
- ork on / with the purveyors of sexual violence.
- Studies focused on males or those who identify as men who suffer sexual violence
- Studies sexual violence in the LGBTQIA+ community
- Sexual violence against sex workers
- Research examining funding for research and interventions, as well as policy issues
Sahnah Lim, PhD, MPH, MIA, is an assistant professor who is leading the Gender Equity scientific track and Mental Health scientific track at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Population Health's Section for Health Equity. As a health equity researcher, Dr. Lim conducts applied, community-engaged studies that seek to address gender-related health issues among hard-to-reach populations such as sex workers and immigrant survivors of gender-based violence. Her research uses intersectionality and syndemics frameworks to understand how multiple marginalization impacts mental and sexual health outcomes.
Dr. Sahnah Lim does not have any conflicts of interest to disclose.
