Silverio Sergio A, Bewley Susan, Montgomery Elsa, Roberts Chelsey, Richens Yana, Maxted Fay, Sandall Jane, Montgomery Jonathan
Department of Women & Children's Health, King's College London, Westminster, London, UK
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women's Health, University College London, Bloomsbury, London, UK.
J Med Ethics. 2020 Nov 10;47(12):779-83. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2020-106343.
Non-recent (historic) childhood sexual abuse is an important issue to research, though often regarded as taboo and frequently met with caution, avoidance or even opposition from research ethics committees. Sensitive research, such as that which asks victim-survivors to recount experiences of abuse or harm, has the propensity to be emotionally challenging for both the participant and the researcher. However, most research suggests that any distress experienced is usually momentary and not of any clinical significance. Moreover, this type of research offers a platform for voices which have often been silenced, and many participants report the cathartic effect of recounting their experiences in a safe, non-judgemental space. With regard to the course of such research, lines of inquiry which ask adult participants to discuss their experiences of childhood sexual abuse may result in a first-time disclosure of that abuse by the victim-survivor to the researcher. Guidance about how researchers should respond to first-time disclosure is lacking. In this article, we discuss our response to one research ethics committee which had suggested that for a qualitative study for which we were seeking ethical approval (investigating experiences of pregnancy and childbirth having previously survived childhood sexual abuse), any disclosure of non-recent (historic) childhood sexual abuse which had not been previously reported would result in the researcher being obliged to report it to relevant authorities. We assess this to be inconsistent with both law and professional guidance in the United Kingdom; and provide information and recommendations for researchers and research ethics committees to consider.
非近期（历史性）童年性虐待是一个重要的研究课题，尽管它常常被视为禁忌，并且经常遭到研究伦理委员会的谨慎对待、回避甚至反对。敏感性研究，比如要求受害者幸存者讲述虐待或伤害经历的研究，对参与者和研究者来说都可能在情感上具有挑战性。然而，大多数研究表明，所经历的任何痛苦通常都是短暂的，并无任何临床意义。此外，这类研究为那些常常被压制的声音提供了一个平台，许多参与者报告称，在一个安全、无评判的空间里讲述自己的经历具有宣泄作用。关于此类研究的过程，询问成年参与者讨论其童年性虐待经历的调查方向可能会导致受害者幸存者首次向研究者披露该虐待行为。目前缺乏关于研究者应如何应对首次披露的指导。在本文中，我们讨论了我们对一个研究伦理委员会的回应，该委员会曾建议，对于一项我们正在寻求伦理批准的定性研究（调查曾经历童年性虐待的女性的怀孕和分娩经历），任何未曾报告过的非近期（历史性）童年性虐待的披露都将使研究者有义务向相关当局报告。我们认为这与英国的法律和专业指导均不一致；并为研究者和研究伦理委员会提供信息和建议以供参考。
