Involuntary loss of bowel-control in sexual assault with non-fatal strangulation: A case report

Non-fatal strangulation has been studied mainly in the context of intimate-partner violence, and prevalence in sexual assault is less well established. In one Australian study of sexual assault by Zilkens et al., [4] 7,4% of women reported non-fatal strangulation as part of the assault. In a recent...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dina Midttun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-07-01
Series:Forensic Science International: Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665910721000311
_version_ 1818718594115043328
author Dina Midttun
author_facet Dina Midttun
author_sort Dina Midttun
collection DOAJ
description Non-fatal strangulation has been studied mainly in the context of intimate-partner violence, and prevalence in sexual assault is less well established. In one Australian study of sexual assault by Zilkens et al., [4] 7,4% of women reported non-fatal strangulation as part of the assault. In a recent study by White et al. [28] 9,3% of adult patients attending a sexual assault referral centre reported non-fatal strangulation. Mcquown et al. [18] comparative studies of non-fatal strangulation in sexual assault and intimate-partner violence , found strangulation more likely to occur in intimate-partner violence, at 38% versus 10%. In this case a woman was attacked outdoors by a stranger, in a sexual assault with non-fatal strangulation and loss of consciousness. The case highlights a symptom, which is known to potentially occur during non-fatal strangulation, but is nonetheless not commonly encountered in clinical practice: loss of bowel sphincter control. Involuntary defecation may have medico-legal consequences in estimating how long the strangulation lasted, as it has been shown to occur after about 30 s Careful and systematic screening regarding symptoms that patients themselves do not spontaneously associate with the event, or might find embarrassing to report, such as loss of bowel or bladder control is thus necessary.
first_indexed 2024-12-17T19:53:31Z
format Article
id doaj.art-b21b9d1f08234b999cee49f1f62ce4f0
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2665-9107
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-17T19:53:31Z
publishDate 2021-07-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Forensic Science International: Reports
spelling doaj.art-b21b9d1f08234b999cee49f1f62ce4f02022-12-21T21:34:40ZengElsevierForensic Science International: Reports2665-91072021-07-013100200Involuntary loss of bowel-control in sexual assault with non-fatal strangulation: A case reportDina Midttun0City of Oslo, Agency for Health, Oslo Primary Care Emergency Service, Sexual Assault Centre, P.O. Box 4716, 0506 Oslo, Norway; Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia; Correspondence address: City of Oslo, Agency for Health, Oslo Primary Care Emergency Service, Sexual Assault Centre, P.O. Box 4716, 0506 Oslo, Norway.Non-fatal strangulation has been studied mainly in the context of intimate-partner violence, and prevalence in sexual assault is less well established. In one Australian study of sexual assault by Zilkens et al., [4] 7,4% of women reported non-fatal strangulation as part of the assault. In a recent study by White et al. [28] 9,3% of adult patients attending a sexual assault referral centre reported non-fatal strangulation. Mcquown et al. [18] comparative studies of non-fatal strangulation in sexual assault and intimate-partner violence , found strangulation more likely to occur in intimate-partner violence, at 38% versus 10%. In this case a woman was attacked outdoors by a stranger, in a sexual assault with non-fatal strangulation and loss of consciousness. The case highlights a symptom, which is known to potentially occur during non-fatal strangulation, but is nonetheless not commonly encountered in clinical practice: loss of bowel sphincter control. Involuntary defecation may have medico-legal consequences in estimating how long the strangulation lasted, as it has been shown to occur after about 30 s Careful and systematic screening regarding symptoms that patients themselves do not spontaneously associate with the event, or might find embarrassing to report, such as loss of bowel or bladder control is thus necessary.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665910721000311Non-fatal strangulationSexual assaultInvoluntary loss bowel-controlInvoluntary defecation
spellingShingle Dina Midttun
Involuntary loss of bowel-control in sexual assault with non-fatal strangulation: A case report
Forensic Science International: Reports
Non-fatal strangulation
Sexual assault
Involuntary loss bowel-control
Involuntary defecation
title Involuntary loss of bowel-control in sexual assault with non-fatal strangulation: A case report
title_full Involuntary loss of bowel-control in sexual assault with non-fatal strangulation: A case report
title_fullStr Involuntary loss of bowel-control in sexual assault with non-fatal strangulation: A case report
title_full_unstemmed Involuntary loss of bowel-control in sexual assault with non-fatal strangulation: A case report
title_short Involuntary loss of bowel-control in sexual assault with non-fatal strangulation: A case report
title_sort involuntary loss of bowel control in sexual assault with non fatal strangulation a case report
topic Non-fatal strangulation
Sexual assault
Involuntary loss bowel-control
Involuntary defecation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665910721000311
work_keys_str_mv AT dinamidttun involuntarylossofbowelcontrolinsexualassaultwithnonfatalstrangulationacasereport