PURPOSE: to evaluate the characteristics of sexual violence against women, the types of sexual crimes and resulting body lesions. METHODS: descriptive study based on the information obtained from the medical records of 102 victims of sexual violence who were seen at the Maria-Maria project from March 2002 to March 2003 and who fulfilled the eligibility criteria. The characteristics of the violence, the types of crimes and the body injuries are described. For calculation and analysis of the data, the Epi-Info, version 6.04, program, for simple percentages and frequency distribution were used. RESULTS: ages of the victims ranged from 1 to 68 years, 65.7% were younger than 20 years and one in four was younger than 9 years. The majority were single (78.3%) and with a low educational level (74.2%). The crime predominated at night (64.7%), in a secluded area (39.2%), followed by the victim's home (34.3%), and at the location of the attack (67.6%). Among the adolescent victims, the unknown attacker predominated, while among the children the attackers were men known to the victims. In the case of the children younger than 10 years, indecent assault was the most frequent crime (73.8%) while rape was the most frequent crime among the adolescents (66.4%). Body trauma occurred in 76.7% of the cases, mainly hematomas, vulva edema and abrasions. CONCLUSION: sexual violence predominated among children and adolescents, single women and with low educational level. The aggression happened more frequently during the night, by an unknown person, in a secluded area, in the case of adolescents, and by a known person (mainly neighbour), in the victim's home, in the case of children. Rape was the most frequent kind of crime among adolescents and among children it was indecent assault, usually associated with genital and corporeal trauma.
Sexual violence; Sexual abuse; Rape; Body injuries
