Quantitative analysis of victim demographics and injury characteristics at a metropolitan Medico-Legal Center

Forensic Sci Int. 2009 Jul 1;188(1-3):46-51. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2009.03.011. Epub 2009 Apr 25.

Abstract

For the timeframe of February 1st, 2003 until December 31st, 2005, all forensic medical experts at the Medico-Legal Center of the Institute of Legal Medicine in Hamburg, Germany, completed a standardized questionnaire for every consenting surviving violence victim (n=2733) age 14 and older. Central to the quantitative analysis of the data collected was the extraction of specific injury characteristics from the sample population. A correlation was demonstrated between injury typologies and four possible perpetrator-victim constellations, each of which was subcategorized into sexual and non-sexual assaults.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Crime Victims / statistics & numerical data*
  • Domestic Violence / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Forensic Medicine
  • Germany / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Rape / statistics & numerical data
  • Self-Injurious Behavior / epidemiology
  • Substance-Related Disorders / epidemiology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Wounds and Injuries / epidemiology*