Miziara ID, Miziara CSMG, Salguero Aguiar L, Alvez B. Physical evidence of rape against children and adolescents in Brazil: Analysis of 13,870 reports of sexual assault in 2017.
SAGE Open Med 2022;
10:20503121221088682. [PMID:
35342626 PMCID:
PMC8943547 DOI:
10.1177/20503121221088682]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction:
The medical literature reports child and adolescent maltreatment since the
8th century. Unfortunately, even today, the incomplete knowledge of this
event persists. Several forms of violence are applied to children and
adolescents, mainly sexual violence including rape and sexual assault.
Forensic medical examinations routinely include the genital area, anus, and
the body of the victims for signs of a recent or old injury. The main goal
of this study is to show the results of physical and sexual examinations
regarding confirmation of rape in children and adolescents, based on the
medicolegal reports.
Methods:
We made a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted by collecting data from
Medicolegal Institute (IML-São Paulo, Brazil) in 2017. We examined 13,870
reports of sexological examinations of victims of the alleged rape. The
variables analyzed were age; sex; physical examination; sexological
examination; and direct search for sperm in the vaginal, anal, or oral
cavity. We selected 11,725 reports from victims under 18 years.
Results:
As for the medical-legal findings, only 1735 reports (14.8%) confirmed sexual
abuse. The most affected ages were between 3 and 5 years in the male group
and 11 to 14 years in the female group. The most frequent injuries were
bruises and abrasions, fissures in the anal region. In 96.2% of the examined
males and 85.8% of the females under 14 years old, the examination was
inconclusive, and somebody cannot prove the alleged rape. Only 1735 reports
(113 from men and 1622 from women) concluded beyond any doubt the alleged
rape (14.8%). The search for sperm was positive in only 1582 cases
(13.5%).
Conclusion:
This study shows that the results of the medicolegal examinations were quite
limited in recording evidence. Sexual violence against children and
adolescents reaches mostly females under 13 years of age. Besides, it is a
complicated crime to prove, as 85.8% of female examinations and 96.2% of
male exams revealed: “no supporting elements” or “undetermined” to
characterize the felony. Therefore, to prevent it, the communication of the
alleged rape must be made as quickly as possible.
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