Research with women sexual assault survivors presenting for emergency care is safe: Results from a multi-site, prospective observational cohort study

A barrier to research with sexual assault survivors is the concern that research participation might be a negative experience for participants. We report the experiences with research of adult women sexual assault survivors participating in a large-scale, multi-site, prospective observational study that enrolled participants at the time of presentation for emergency care. Participants (n = 706, M = 28 years of age; 57% white, 15% Black) self-reported their experience with research 1 week, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year post-assault. The vast majority rated the research experience as positive (95–97%), reported no drawbacks (84–89%), and felt that participating was worth it (93–95%). Positive experiences with research remained stable across the year, were generally consistent across demographic and clinical groups, and were reflected in qualitative comments. Given the tremendous morbidity experienced by sexual assault survivors and lack of progress in developing improved treatments for this population, ethically-conducted research with sexual assault survivors receiving emergency care should be encouraged.