Low-cost non-professional interventions for victims of sexual violence: A systematic review

In low-income countries many victims of sexual violence with mental health problems do not have access to specialized and costly evidence-based therapeutic interventions. For this reason, it is important to gain insight in the effectiveness of low-cost non-professional interventions for these victims of sexual violence. For this purpose, a systematic review was conducted using PsycINFO and PubMed. In total, 14 intervention-studies among victims of sexual violence were identified, studying 10 different low-cost non-professional interventions published between 1990 and 2018. Results showed that almost all interventions were effective to a lesser or greater extent. For this reason, described low-cost non-professional interventions are of interest for victims of sexual violence as well as for mental health policy makers in low-income countries. However, almost all studies were performed in the USA, and none of the studies included a long-term follow-up period or victimized men. Therefore, future studies on the effectiveness of these interventions in low-income countries including a long-term follow-up period and men, are highly recommended. •Fourteen studies were identified that have investigated ten different low-cost non-professional interventions.•The quality of the reviewed studies was sufficient.•Almost all of the developed low-cost non-professional interventions were effective to a lesser or greater extent.•Almost all of the studies reviewed were performed in the USA.•None of the studies included a long-term follow-up period or victimized men.