Retrospective evaluation of cases of sexual abuse under 18 years old in Muğla

Abstract

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to evaluate cases of children aged 18 years or younger who applied for forensic report due to sexual abuse. Material and Method: We retrospectively reviewed the reports of those who were younger than 18 years old, who were referred to our center between 01 June 2012 and 31 December 2014 for sexual abuse. In addition to the demographic data such as age and gender, the results of the examinations were evaluated with respect to the aggressor's degree of proximity to the victim, the scene of the incident, the period of time during which the report was requested, the period between the event date and first examination. Results: In our study, 240 (62.0%) of 387 cases brought to sexual exploitation were children. 85.4% of the cases were female, 14.6% were male, 97.1% were citizens of Republic of Turkey (TC) and 2.9% were foreign nationals. Of the total children, 45.4% were adolescents aged between 13 and 15 years. Of these, 26.3% of the suspects were male friends, lovers, fiancées, spouses, 20.5% were blood relatives and non-relatives. In 62.9% of the children, the event occurred in houses and annexes. In 31.6% of the cases, the time from the sexual assault to the last examination time was between 3 months and 1 year, 19% of the cases were found to be longer than 1 year. Abnormalities occurred in 50.6% of the cases between May-August, 23.8% of them were examined in the first 72 hours after the injury and 57.9% of them were examined at the Forensic Medicine Department. Conclusion: It is striking that victims are delayed after complaints; for this reason it is generally necessary to create awareness in the whole society, to make informed and educated studies for the purpose of bringing up the descendents without loss, and to evaluate the cases with a multidisciplinary approach.