Genital injuries following sexual assault of women with and without prior sexual intercourse experience

Abstract

Background: The literature on sexual assault has not directly addressed the question of genital injuries in women without prior sexual intercourse experience. Given the paucity of research and the current importance of physical evidence in the criminal justice system, this study was designed to document the type and site of genital injuries from sexual assault in women without and with prior sexual intercourse experience.

Methods: The charts were reviewed of 132 women who had been sexually assaulted and had sought medical treatment at the Sexual Assault Care Centre (SACC), Women's College Hospital, Toronto, within 10 days after the assault. Half (66) of the women reported that, at the time of the assault, they had no prior sexual intercourse experience. The Sexual Assault Evidence Kit in each patient's file was reviewed to ascertain the type and location of genital injuries. Types of injuries were classified into 3 categories (nonperforating soft-tissue injuries, lacerations or current bleeding) and locations into 6 categories (labia majora and minora, posterior fourchette and introitus, hymen, vagina, cervix, and anus).

Results: Significantly more women without than with prior sexual intercourse experience had visible genital injuries (65.2% v. 25.8%, p < 0.01). However, of the women without prior experience, only 9.1% had hymenal perforation. Analyses of the data for only women with genital injuries indicated no difference between those without and those with prior sexual intercourse experience in the overall mean number of injured sites (1.65 and 1.47 respectively) or in the mean number of sites with nonperforating soft-tissue injuries (0.349 and 0.706), lacerations (0.953 and 0.471) and bleeding (0.279 and 0.294).

Interpretation: The results suggest that genital injuries are more common in women without prior sexual intercourse experience but that substantial proportions of all women, regardless of their prior sexual experience at the time of assault, will not have visible genital injuries. Emergency department staff and members of the criminal justice system need to be aware of the variable presentation of genital trauma related to sexual assault in women with and without prior sexual intercourse experience.