Adult femicide victims in forensic autopsy in Taiwan: A 10-year retrospective study

Abstract

BackgroundViolence against women and adult femicides are critical medico-legal issues worldwide. Intimate partner violence is one of the leading contributory risk factors. This study aimed to describe the characteristics of femicides in Taiwan. MethodsA retrospective analysis of forensic autopsy records of adult femicide victims in Taiwan during a 10-year period was carried out. The age, victim-offender relationship, injury patterns and causes of death were analyzed. ResultsAmong the 220 adult femicide victims recruited, 114 were killed by intimate partners and 106 were killed by non-intimate partner offenders. The average age of victims killed by intimate partners (40.0 y/o) were younger than those killed by non-intimate partner perpetrators (48.6 y/o). The most common site of injuries in the intimate partner group and the non-intimate partner group was the neck and the upper limbs, respectively. The rates of bruise and intracranial injury of non-intimate partner group were significantly higher than that of the intimate partner group. The most common causes of death in both groups were strangulation and sharp force injury. The heart injury was significantly more frequent in victims offended by intimate partners than by other assailants. ConclusionsThe characteristics of adult femicides, and the patterns of injury in victims killed by intimate partners and non-intimate partner offenders were different. This data is helpful for corpus inspection in forensic casework and for strategic planning of femicides prevention.