Impact of medico‐legal findings on charge filing in cases of rape in adult women

Abstract

Objective. To assess the impact of the medical documentation and biological trace evidence in rape cases on the legal process. Design. Retrospective descriptive study. Setting and sample. Police-reported cases of rape of women ≥16 years old in the Norwegian county of Sør-Trøndelag from January 1997 to June 2003. Methods. Police data were merged with data from the Sexual Assault Center at St Olav's Hospital. Charged and non-charged cases were compared. Main Outcome Measures. Medico-legal findings and legal outcome. Results. A total of 185 police-reported cases were identified. Of the 101 cases examined at Sexual Assault Center, charges were filed in 18 cases. Extragenital injuries were documented in 49 women; five were life threatening. Anogenital injuries were documented in 14 women; eight had multiple anogenital injuries. Documentation of injuries was not associated with charge filing. In only 33% of the cases were swabs collected from women's genitals used as trace evidence by the police. When used, this increased the likelihood for charge filing. A DNA profile matching the suspect was identified in four of the 18 charged cases and in only one among the 54 non-charged cases. Conclusions. Half of the women had one or more documented injury. Only one-third of the trace evidence kits collected from the women's anogenital area were analyzed. The analysis of swabs was associated with charge filing, regardless of test results. Increased use of such medical evidence, especially in cases of stranger rape, may ensure women's rights and increase available information to the legal system.

The significance of the forensic clinical examination on the judicial assessment of rape complaints – developments and trends

“…In our study, extragenital injuries alone are observed in almost half of the victims in accordance with four studies [1,18,21,22]. Other studies [3,5,19,[23][24][25] range from 11% and up to 78%. About one-fifth of the victims had both extra-genital and anogenital injuries and this corresponds to the result in three other studies [18,24,25].…”

“…Altogether, 77% of the victims in our study population had been drinking alcohol prior to the assault, which is higher than most studies [3,5]. There is an association between being assaulted by a stranger or by a person the victim has just met if the victim drinks more than 5 units.…”

“…A few studies have investigated the impact of results obtained at a forensic clinical examination (FCE) on legal outcomes in cases of rape [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Results have varied, and no specific pattern of impact has been demonstrated.…”

Women with PTSD have a changed sensitivity to GABA-A receptor active substances

“…The presence of anogenital injuries has been shown to be a major contributing factor in the various decision-making points from a criminal justice perspective [33]. Even though a recent study from Norway found that the documentation of injuries was not associated with charge filing [34], several studies have reported that conviction rates are higher when there is evidence of genital injuries [35,36,37]. The doctor is often asked to make a statement as to whether the intercourse was consensual or non-consensual, thereby providing support for the common misconception, both among the general public and among legal experts, that sexual assault is invariably associated with physical injuries.…”

Factors Influencing the Filing of Complaints, Their Investigation, and Subsequent Legal Judgment in Cases of Sexual Assault

“…The presence of semen is also a factor that positively influences the filing of a complaint ( p = 0.035)—although it is not really statistically significant—because semen contains the DNA of the aggressor, who thus cannot deny that the event took place , hence the need for a medical examination to be performed as soon as possible, since the probability of finding semen decreases daily, reaching zero after 12 days .…”