TITLE:
Clinical Study of Rape against Females at the Yaoundé Gyneco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital, Cameroun
AUTHORS:
Pascal Foumane, Julius Sama Dohbit, Francisca Monebenimp, Bruno Natolga, Esther Ngo Um Meka, Emile Telesphore Mboudou
KEYWORDS:
Rape, Victims, Genital Lesions, Vaginal and Anal Penetration, HIV Prophylaxis, Cameroon
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Sexual Medicine,
Vol.4 No.2,
April
4,
2014
ABSTRACT: Objective: To describe the clinical and therapeutic aspects of rape against females in a tertiary level hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with a retrolective collection of data, concerning the female patients with a clinical diagnosis of rape received from January 1st 2008 to December 31st 2012. Results: Rape was confirmed at physical examination in 131 cases. The rape victim survivals were mostly aged less than 20 years (85/131; 64.9%), unmarried (127/131; 97.0%), with no income (95/131; 72.5%) and had no university education level (110/131; 83.9%). The aggression commonly took place during the night (68/131; 51.9%), at the victim’s or aggressor’s home (70/131; 53.4%), with physical constraint (73/131; 55.8%), by an unknown aggressor (88/131; 67.2%). A vaginal penetration was reported by 97.0% of the victims (127/131) while 12.2% of them (16/122) had an anal ingress. Condom usage was uncommon during rape (3/131; 2.3%). Vulvar and vaginal lesions were encountered in 32.8% of the cases (43/131). Only 27.5% (36/131) of the victims were prescribed an emergency contraception, while antiretroviral prophylaxis was administered to 46.6% (61/131) of them. Conclusion: These data might be useful for prevention of rape. The clinical management of survival victims of rape needs to be improved.