Sexual Violence

Prevalence rates derived from epidemiological studies confirm that sexual violence suggest that without doubt represents a global health problem. Research in victims demonstrates marked long-term effects of sexual traumatization in childhood on neurobiological systems in adulthood, and these changes contribute to health problems. Recently, neuroimaging studies provided new evidence suggesting neural correlates of sexual deviancy (e.g. pedophilia), which is one of the risk factors for sexual offending against children. Furthermore, research on anti-social behaviour (another important risk factor for sexual offending) indicates the need for early intervention in adolescents or young adults. Comparing a fast developing country, such as India, to developed European countries, large differences concerning criminological data and cultural conditions influencing the probability of sexual offending against women and children become obvious. This does not necessarily mean that there is no transferability of health science knowledge across countries. This workshop will scrutinize the main epidemiological, neurobiological and therapeutic knowledge concerning sexual violence against women and children in order to translate this knowledge to devise strategies for the improvement of primary and secondary prevention from an international level focusing on the health care system.