Body’s Testimony: Injury Patterns in Sexual Assault Survivors of South-Central Mumbai

Abstract

According to UNICEF, globally, an estimated 650 million girls and women, or approximately 1 in 5, have been
subjected to sexual violence during their childhood1. Both the physical healing and the legal pursuit of justice
for survivors of sexual violence depend on the timely treatment and comprehensive documenting of extra-genital
and genital injuries.This prospective observational study was conducted at a tertiary care facility in central-
southern Mumbai from January 2016 to June 2017. A total of 160 survivors of alleged sexual assault, fulfilling
inclusion criteria, were included in the study. The main aim of the study was toobserve the Injury patterns
on survivors of alleged sexual assault presenting to the tertiary care facility, with a specific focus onextra-genital
and genital trauma. In the study, we observed, majority of sexual assaults involved peno-vaginal penetration
(84.37%), with genital injuries being the most common (69.38%). Hymenal tears at the 7 o’clock position was
frequently observed (7.5%), often in conjunction with older tears (60.40%). Anal injuries were rare (6.25%). A
significant proportion of survivors presented late for examination (25.62%).