Complications of Rape in Adolescents and Rehabilitation of the victims: A Narrative Review Article

Background and Aim: Adolescents are vulnerable groups who comprise one-third of all new cases of abuse and experience higher rates of sexual abuse. Evidence on sexual abuse of adolescents has shown short-term and long-term effects on the psychological functions of the victims. The present study was performed to review the complications and rehabilitation of adolescent rape victims. Material and Methods: This study was conducted by searching Persian and English databases including Elsevier Proquest, UpToDate, Scopus, Magiran, Irandoc, SID, Iran medex, Sciencedirect, Ebsco, Pubmed, and Google Scholar. To extract related articles, the keywords of rape, adolescents, prevention, rehabilitation and their Latin equivalents were used. In this study, articles dealing with the effects of rape and rehabilitation of adolescent rape victims, published from January 2000 to December 2020 were included. This study included articles with correct study method written in Persian or English, dealing with rape in the adolescent age group and articles reporting complications and rehabilitation of adolescent rape victims. Results: Out of 59 related articles, 41 articles were excluded due to lack of reporting complications or rehabilitation of adolescent rape victims. Finally 18 studies were included in this review study. To collect information, the articles were carefully reviewed and the results were extracted. The topics covered in the study included sexually transmitted diseases, substance and alcohol abuse, unwanted pregnancies and abortions, psychological disorders, high-risk sexual behavior, treatment and rehabilitation of adolescents rape victims, and sex education for adolescents. Conclusion: It is necessary to develop plans to prevent rape in adolescents and provide appropriate measures for rehabilitation of sexual victims, including reproductive health education in schools, comprehensive community-based awareness, and open discussion about sex and reproductive health issues with adolescents at family and school level.