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Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
Older victims of sexual assault: an underrecognized population
Linda O Eckert1, Naomi F Sugar
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
Objective:
We performed this study to determine if sexual assault characteristics differ in women presenting for evaluation as women age.
Study Design:
All females 20 years or older presenting after sexual assault to an urban emergency department during a nine year period underwent standardized evaluation. Analysis was performed by chi(2).
Results:
We evaluated 2399 women: 1743 women 20-39 years, 554 women 40-55 years, and 102 women over 55 years of age. Compared with the other age groups, older women were more commonly assaulted in their own home (36%) or care facility (33%), P < .001, assaulted by a service provider (16.7%) or stranger (18.6%), P < .001, impaired (54.9%), P < .001, admitted to the hospital (15.7%), P < .001, incur genital trauma (35.6%), P = .04, and less likely to have a weapon used (7.8%), P = .003.
Conclusion:
Sexual assault in older women has distinct characteristics, which may be useful in planning intervention and prevention strategies.
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