Evaluation of Sexual Violence Victims: Cross-Sectional Research

Objective: The present study was aimed to evaluate the cases presented with sexual abuse claims referred by judicial authorities for forensic examination. Material and Methods: The reports on cases presented to the Fırat University Faculty of Medicine Forensic Medicine Department Polyclinic with sexual abuse claims between 2016 and 2020 were reviewed retrospectively. The cases were evaluated in terms of sociodemographic features and examination results. Results: Of the cases, 128 (82.6%) were female. 64.8% of the women presented with vaginal penetration, and that the suspect was most frequently a friend or partner of the victim (38.2%), where 64 (41.3%) victims applied within the first 3 days following the incident. Upon genital examinations, the hymens in question were mostly in annular form (89.1%), 52.8% of the female cases were hymen injury, the natural notches were most frequently at the 3 and 9 o'clock locations (15.9%) in the lithotomy position, and that the tears were the most common at the 6 o'clock location (29.4%). 5.2% of all the cases had anal penetration, and that 75% of the acute hymen tears and all the acute anal penetration were examination was found within first three days. Conclusion: It is known that the detecting criminal manifestations becomes more challenging as the application is delayed following the sexual abuse incident. For this reason, we believe that it is important to determine the reasons for the delay in reporting the crime of the victims and to take the necessary precautions, in order to collect the findings of the crime properly and to get the punishment they deserve.