A Study on Sexual Assault Victims Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital

Dr Amol B Shinde; Dr. Deepali S Jadhav

Volume : VI, Issue : IX, September - 2017

A Study on Sexual Assault Victims Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital

Dr Amol B Shinde, Dr. Deepali S Jadhav

Abstract :

Introduction: Sexual assault on women is an evil trend in the society. Rape and abuse of women are common occurrences, which, many a times go unspoken due to social stigma or fear of retribution. Healthcare workers play an important role in this regard because they are the first person who examine the rape victims. They prepare a documented record of medical condition of rape victim and do relevant sample collection.

Aim: The objective was to reveal the socio demographic profile & medico legal consequences of rape victims who presented to the emergency department in tertiary hospital, Pune after sexual assault.

Materials & Methods: Data was retrospectively collected from the medico legal register of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology between January 2015 to June 2016.

Results: We noted a marked increase in the number of cases. Majority of victims were between 11-30 years. Use of sedatives and physical trauma was not common. Victims often knew the perpetrator of the event. The victims may or may not have detectable physical injuries. In some cases even in consensual relationship complain of sexual assault comes into play when each of trust results. Most (65.7%) of them reported after 7 days of the incident. Major degrees of perineal tears were seen in young victims.

Conclusion: This type of study may help to enhance public awareness, which can increase reporting of incidents and to frame appropriate measures to diminish such events in society