Happy, Healthy Women, Not Just Survivors is a joint advocacy initiative between the Australian Women's Coalition (AWC), the Australian Federation of Medical Women (AFMW) and the Victorian Medical Women's Society (VMWS).  Following on from the recent national summit, a briefing paper has been released that provides the background information, evidence and educational resources to inform and highlight the issues that need to be addressed to safely and effectively meet the needs of sexual violence survivors over a lifetime.

Sexual violence is a common experience for women in Australia, with 1 in 3 reporting sequal violence over their lifetimes and 1 in 10 reporting penetrative or attempted penetrative sexual abuse. Significant health consequences result over a lifetime, and with domestic violence, sexual violence is responsible for the greatest burden of disease for women aged 18-45 years. In site of this, women who experience sexual violence are reluctant to access healthcare services. There is a critical dissonance between survivors' needs and service provision.

Click here to download the briefing paper Happy, Healthy Women, Not Just Survivors.
Click here to view the cover letter for the paper.