Reported cases of female sexual assault over 5 years period in Suez Canal area, Egypt: Demographic study

Abstract

In Egypt, there is no clear and accurate epidemiologic study on sexual assault and this lack of data conduct us to this study.It is a retrospective study evaluating sexual assault against females over 18years old in Suez Canal area from 2004 to 2008 assessing reported cases of sexual assault to the police and recognizes the associated factors. Total number of cases of sexual assault was 40 over the studied years. There were 6, 7, 8, 8 and 11 cases respectively in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Alive cases were (95%) and (5%) were autopsy cases. One (2.5%) of the assailants was considered as intra-familial assault, while (90%) were extra-familial and (7.5%) were incest. In (57.5%) of the cases the assailant was known to the victim. The highest percentage of victims was among age group 1 (18–28years old) representing 65% of the cases. The most frequent reported type of sexual abuse between was complete rape (35%), followed by incomplete rape (30%). The reported type of incest is father–daughter in (100%) of the cases.Female sexual assault is a hidden problem in Suez Canal area as the majority of cases passes without reporting to authorities.