Massage therapy for survivors of rape and sexual abuse: A systematic review

Abstract

Purpose

In understanding the profound and multifaceted impact of sexual violence, there is an emergent need to explore holistic therapeutic interventions. Massage therapy is being explored as a potential means of helping survivors heal, yet its effects are not thoroughly elucidated. This study aims to evaluate the benefits of massage therapy in the psychological support of survivors of sexual violence and rape.

Methods

For this purpose, a systematic review of studies in English and French was conducted, according to PRISMA guidelines, using the PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus and Cochrane databases. Based on the PICOS approach, to be eligible, studies have to include a massage-based intervention and involve a population that had experienced at least one rape or form of sexual violence. Risk of bias was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (Hong et al., 2018).

Results

Eleven quantitative, qualitative and mixed studies were included in this review. They all conclude that therapeutic massage has a positive effect on the care of people who have suffered sexual violence

Discussion

The results suggest a large number of positive effects of using massage in the treatment of survivors of sexual violence. However, the small sample size and the diversity of the research protocols and measurement instruments make it difficult to generalize those results.

Conclusion

This systematic review supports the psychological, physical and social benefits of using massage to treat survivors of sexual violence. The small sample size, lack of representativeness and diversity of study types, experimental protocols and measurement instruments mean that future research is needed to better investigate the issue.