Audit of Genito-Anal Injuries in male and female sexual abuse cases - A retrospective study.

Abstract

Background: Sexual assault is a global issue wherein timely examination of sexual assault victims by medico-legal officers and an understanding of the characteristics and factors influencing their injuries have a crucial impact on medico-legal evidence collection and its use in the court. Genital injury findings improve the level of justice for victims, but the lack of injury does not negate the possibility of sexual violence incurred on the victim. The following study describes in great detail the different factors associated with injury characteristics and the medico-legal importance of all these factors. Methodology: It was a retrospective descriptive study conducted at the Forensic Medicine Department of King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan. All the cases included that fulfill the predefined inclusion criteria were included. A record chart was designed, and six years’ data was recorded in it from the medical records of the medico-legal clinic. It was entered and edited manually. Methods used to prevent data entry errors included double entry and validation following data entry Difference of proportions between variables, where appropriate, has been calculated by Pearson Chi-Square test and Fischer Exact test at 95% confidence interval. Data were analyzed using SPSS v23. All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were following the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and the Helsinki declaration. Results: Genito anal injury was present in 28.2% cases and was absent in 71.8% cases. Most of the victims were aged 11 to 15 years. The most common injury in the victims was a tear. In females, the most common injury site was the vagina, while the perianal area was the most injured site in males. There was a significant relation (p<0.05) between type and site of injury, gender, site of injury, and prior sexual intercourse experience and prevalence rate of injury. Conclusion: This study concludes that the presence of injuries in the Genito anal area is suggestive of sexual assault and provides useful court evidence.