Sexual Assault in Ethiopian Contexts: Data From a Large Sample of Women and Girls Presenting at Two Hospital-Based,Limited-Resource Sexual Assault Treatment Clinics

Abstract

This study presents data from a large sample of clinic-evaluated sexual assault survivors (N = 1,667) in Ethiopia between 2009 and 2015, one of the largest such samples ever analyzed in an African country. Statistical analyses revealed a disproportionate number of minors presenting to the clinics, an extremely high prevalence of special kidnapping cases, significant differences in access and assault characteristics between survivors from within the clinic cities and those from outside of them, and an unacceptable clinical focus on unreliable hymenal findings. In addition, a myriad of important findings regarding patient characteristics, as well as injury and medical outcomes, are reported.

Keywords

sexual assault Ethiopia abduction medical rape

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