Medicolegal findings among rape victims

A survey was done of 249 female victims of alleged sexual offences (mostly rapes) examined at the Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki in 1978-1984. The judicial outcome of 150 cases of the same material examined in 1978-1981 (annual prevalence 7.8 in Helsinki) was related to the pattern of injuries and to the presence of spermatozoa. Review of medicolegal reports indicated that victims were often quite young, workers and students, who mostly had consumed alcohol and were taken by force by strange offenders often in a remote place, at night and at the weekend. In most cases the offender had used physical violence causing minor injuries to the victim. Apparently, physical injury is not an inevitable consequence of being raped. A vaginal intercourse had mostly occurred. However, spermatozoa were found in just under half the cases. An unconditional imprisonment (usually 0.5-2.5 years) and the withdrawal of the charge was the consequence in one-third of the cases, respectively. There was little correlation between judicial outcome and the severity of injuries and/or the presence of spermatozoa in vaginal samples. Results suggest that the offence should be reported to the authorities as soon as possible so that more medicolegal evidence can be obtained.