Forensic Markers in Elder Female Sexual Abuse Cases

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cger.2004.10.005Get rights and content

Section snippets

Prevalence estimates of rape

The NCVS is a national reference of the state of interpersonal violence and crime statistics, specifically rape and sexual assault. Nine out of 10 rape victims are female [2]. Almost 20 million women and almost 3 million men have reported being a victim of rape sometime in their life [3]. Although most rape victims are female and white (82.5%), blacks are 10% more likely to be attacked and raped than whites [1]. There are many common factors among the various age cohorts, but little empiric

Select studies of sexually victimized older adults

Twenty cases of referred nursing home resident victims of sexual assault were analyzed by Burgess et al [16]. Eleven of 20 victims died within 12 months of the assault, suggesting that nursing home victims of sexual abuse are often physically and emotionally fragile and have severe traumatic reactions to assault. A similar conclusion was found by other researchers [17], [18], [19], [20], [21].

Using data from the NCVS for 1992 through 1994, Bachman et al [21] examined robbery and assault against

Methods

The study was a retrospective analysis of 125 cases of elder sexual abuse. Experts were invited to join a working group to determine essential forensic markers (FMs) unique to older adult victims of sexual abuse. To participate, experts were required to (1) have direct clinical, administrative, investigative, or legal experience with older adult sexual victims; (2) submit at least five substantiated elder sexual abuse cases for analysis before a scheduled working group meeting; and (3) bring

Victim characteristics and patterns of behavior

The mean age of the 125 women studied was 78.5 years (Table 1). The majority was Caucasian (83%); 12% were African American, 3% were Hispanic, and 2% were Asian. Sixty-six percent were widowed, 17% were single, 10% were married, and 5% were divorced. Most (93.9%) spoke English as a primary language.

The elderly women were generally small in stature and weight and suffered from a physical or mental disability (49%). Forty-three percent of the women lived alone at the time of the incident, 38%

Criminal justice process and outcomes

Based on 120 of 125 cases in which there were adequate data for coding, the reporting and disposition of these offenses went as follows (Table 5). Law enforcement was notified in 96% of the cases. There were 88 out of 117 offenders (75%) identified, 65 out of 116 (56%) arrested, and 64 out of 116 (55%) charged. Half of these cases (57 of 113 with data) were prosecuted. Of the 113 cases, about one out of four was found guilty. A plea bargain was reached in 32 of the 113 cases (28%), and 55 of

Forensic markers significant in the prosecution of cases

Correlation analyses were performed on the 125 cases of sexually abused women to compare offenders who were charged and found guilty and those who were not. The younger the victim was, the greater was the likelihood that the offender would be found guilty. If the victim were tearful or sobbing during the forensic examination, if a urinary tract infection was present, and if a psychologic assessment for PTSD was completed, there was a greater likelihood of an offender being found guilty. If the

Comparison of community-based victims and nursing home victims

Over one third of the cases (38%) involved nursing home residents. Nursing home victims were significantly older than the rest of the sample. Most of the nursing home victims were Caucasian and widowed, and just over half of the perpetrators were the same race as the victims. The overwhelming majority of nursing home victims had a physical and mental disability when compared with non-nursing home victims. Most of the nursing home victims were assaulted in their bed. Correlations comparing the

Discussion

Nearly 80% of the elder victims in our study lived alone or in nursing homes. The nursing home residents were older and more likely than the non-nursing home residents to be physically and mentally disabled. This combined with the fact that the perpetrator was more likely to be known to the victim as an acquaintance, family member, or staff emphasizes the higher level of vulnerability in this age group and the need to legislate protective laws such as criminal background checks for potential

Summary

Understanding how intentional sexual injuries are inflicted on older adults is a growing concern as the population over 65 increases. This study contributes critical information to guide the identification of physical and psychologic markers of elder sexual abuse to be integrated by law enforcement as forensic medical evidence. Findings from this study will be used to educate health care professions about elder sexual abuse, which we hope will promote early detection. Policy implications for

First page preview

First page preview
Click to open first page preview

References (26)

  • V.N. Pavlik et al.

    Quantifying the problem of abuse and neglect in adults: analysis of a statewide database

    J Am Geriatr Soc

    (2001)
  • R. Acierno et al.

    Rape and physical violence: comparison of assault characteristics in older and younger adults in the National Women's Study

    J Trauma Stress

    (2001)
  • A.W. Burgess et al.

    Sexual predators in nursing homes

    J Psychosoc Nurs Ment Health Serv

    (2000)
  • Cited by (0)

    This project was supported in part by grant no. 2001-IJ-CX-K015 and grant no. 2003-WG-BX-1007 awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Department of Justice.

    View full text