Patterns of genital injury in female sexual assault victims

New colposcopic protocols allow examiners to better document genital trauma in rape victims. We report our findings on the locations and types of genital injury seen in female assault victims versus women engaging in consensual sex.

Physical examinations were performed on 311 rape victims seen by San Luis Obispo County's Suspected Abuse Response Team between 1985 and 1993 and contemporaneously on 75 women after consensual sexual intercourse.

Among 213 (68%) victims with genital trauma, 162 (76%) had 3.1 mean sites of injury. Comparatively, 8 (11%) consenting women had just single-site trauma. Two hundred (94%) victims had trauma at one or more of four locations, as follows: posterior fourchette, labia minora, hymen, fossa navicularis. Trauma types varied by site; tears appeared most often on the posterior fourchette and fossa, abrasions appeared on the labia, and ecchymosis was seen on the hymen.

A localized pattern of genital trauma can frequently be seen in women reporting nonconsensual sexual intercourse; such findings are useful for the clinical forensic examiner.