FEMALE VICTIMS OF RAPE AND THEIR GENITAL INJURIES

Objective A minority (some report < 10%) of women report sexual assaul t. Of those that negotiate the police process, only a minority will co me to a court hearing. It is thought that the courts still rely upon m edical evidence, in particular evidence of genital injury to 'prove' t he rape. This study aimed to ascertain the incidence of genital injury in victims of alleged rape Design Retrospective review of case record s of women who reported they had had been raped, provided by women doc tors on the Northumbrian Police Doctors scheme. Sample Case records fr om Newcastle, North and South Tyneside, Sunderland and Northumbria. Me thods Analysis of records in the standardised booklet used by police s urgeons to examine women reporting rape. Main outcome measures Presenc e of genital injury, presence of other physical injuries. Results A mi nority of women had genital injuries (22/83); the majority had some fo rm of physical injury (68/83), although most of these were minor. Conc lusion The study shows that only a minority of women examined by speci fically trained police doctors show evidence of genital injury. The ab sence of genital injury does not exclude rape.