Experiences of sexual violence, childhood sexual abuse, and sexual assault are common across all societies. These experiences damage physical and mental health, coping ability, and relationships with others. Given the breadth and magnitude of impacts, it is imperative that there are effective, accessible services to support victim-survivors, ease suffering, and empower people to cope, recover and thrive. Service provision for this population in the United Kingdom is complex and has been hit substantially by austerity. Since positive social support can buffer against negative impacts, peer support may be an effective approach. The aim of this exploratory study was to capture the views and perspectives of professional stakeholders concerning service provision for victim-survivors, particularly perceptions of peer support.

In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted in the UK during 2018 with six professional stakeholders, highly experienced in the field of service provision for victim-survivors of sexual violence and abuse. An abductive approach to analysis was used, applying principles from thematic analysis. Our sample comprised four females and two males, and their roles included psychiatrist, general practitioner, service improvement facilitator, and senior positions within victim-survivor organizations.

Interviews highlighted models of peer support for this population, good practice and safety considerations, and a lack of uniformity regarding quality and governance standards across the sector. Findings indicated that current funding models impact negatively on victim-survivor services, and that provision is fragmented and insufficient across statutory and not-for-profit sectors. The influence of the medical model upon service provision was evident, which resulted in apprehension around support delivered in less-usual forms—including peer support. Further research is needed to explore the potential of peer support for victim-survivors of sexual violence and abuse.

性暴力、儿童性虐待和性侵犯的经历在所有社会中都很常见。这些经历会损害身心健康、应对能力以及与他人的关系。鉴于影响的广度和程度，必须有有效的、可获得的服务来支持受害者幸存者，减轻痛苦，并使人们能够应对、康复和茁壮成长。在英国，为这一人群提供的服务很复杂，并且受到紧缩政策的严重打击。由于积极的社会支持可以缓冲负面影响，同伴支持可能是一种有效的方法。这项探索性研究的目的是捕捉专业利益相关者关于为受害者幸存者提供服务的观点和观点，特别是对同伴支持的看法。

2018 年在英国对六位专业利益相关者进行了深入的半结构化访谈，他们在为性暴力和性虐待的受害者幸存者提供服务方面经验丰富。使用了一种溯因分析方法，应用了主题分析的原则。我们的样本包括四名女性和两名男性，她们的角色包括精神科医生、全科医生、服务改进促进者以及受害者幸存者组织中的高级职位。

访谈强调了对这一人群的同行支持模式、良好实践和安全考虑，以及整个行业的质量和治理标准缺乏统一性。调查结果表明，当前的筹资模式对受害者-幸存者服务产生负面影响，并且在法定和非营利部门中提供的服务分散且不足。医疗模式对服务提供的影响是显而易见的，这导致人们担心以不常见的形式提供的支持——包括同伴支持。需要进一步的研究来探索同伴支持对性暴力和性虐待的受害者幸存者的潜力。