Examining the Impact of Sociology Influenced Research on Women's Healthcare DecisionMaking following Sexual Violence in the United Kingdom

The autonomy of adult women in the United Kingdom (U.K), to make informed healthcare decisions
following sexual violence, is often promoted as a self-directed process characterised by person centred
and recovery orientated care. However, Foucauldian discourse and power imbalances influence
contemporary Public Health research, result in negative normalised practice, highly influenced by
societal norms, gender roles, cultural expectations, and stigmatisation. This highlights the dominance
of narratives not always in the best interest of victims in practical settings.
Whilst it could be assumed the impact of Health Sociology research in this field serves its intended
purpose of informing on social practice, it often results in literature no more conducive than concluding
what is already known, thus stunting progression. Additionally, there a lack of substance in proposing
implementation strategies conducive to implementing theory into practice in this delicate area.
A rapid review was undertaken to find publications focused on the experience of UK women’s decisionmaking experiences following sexual violence and included both qualitative and quantitative
sources.Results found that quantitative literature tended to focus on sociologically underpinned
intersectionality as its key methodology, however further identified that such papers overlooked the
exploration of underlying exploratory mechanisms, thus missing a key principle of intersectional
research.
In a discipline where social and political influences cannot be ignored pertaining to changing health
landscapes, the value of these findings advocate for empirical contemporary lived experience research
in order to move beyond reviews and analyses of theory, thus creating real sociological underpinning
conducive to improved workforce development.