ArticleEClinicalMedicine2023
Anogenital injury following sexual assault and consensual sexual intercourse: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genital lacerations following sexual assault and consensual sexual intercourse: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of forensic sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Post-coital traumatic haemorrhage as cause of death.Forensic science, medicine, and pathology · 2026Article
- Patterns of female genital-anal injury following consensual and non-consensual intercourse: a systematic review with exploratory likelihood ratio analysis.International journal of legal medicine · 2026Article
- Forensic pathologic investigation of the female genital organs by complete pelvic exenteration: a step-by-step autopsy approach.Forensic science, medicine, and pathology · 2026Article
- Implementation gaps in the two-finger test ban in medico-legal evidence collection on rape: a qualitative study in three districts of Bangladesh.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- The impact of delayed reporting on forensic evidence recovery in anal sexual assault cases: A retrospective study.PloS one · 2026Article
- Genital and anal injury in women after sexual assault: prevalence rates and associated risk factors in 294 cases.International journal of legal medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Sexual violence is a grave human rights violation and a serious global public health challenge. Rates of reporting of sexual violence and subsequent passage of cases through the criminal justice system are poor all over the world. The presence or absence of anogenital injury following sexual assault may influence survivors in their willingness to report a crime, and law enforcement officers and jurors in their decision making regarding the laying of charges and/or conviction of offenders. The aim of this systematic review was to compare rates of identification of anogenital injury (AGI) in women following sexual assault and consensual sexual intercourse using the same examination techniques. Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, Medline, Embase and Google Scholar were searched for relevant studies (in any language, with no age or sex criteria) published between February 25, 1993, and February 25, 2023, that directly compared AGI between individuals after either sexual assault or consensual sexual intercourse. Abstracts, conference proceedings, and case reports were excluded. The primary outcome of interest was any form of detected AGI. The Mantel-Haenszel method was used for meta-analysis using random effects modelling to determine the risk ratio (RR) of AGI between sexual assault and consensual sexual intercourse. Quality assessment was undertaken using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale tool. The Findings: We included 10 studies, accounting for 3165 study participants. All participants were female. AGI was detected in 901 (48%) of 1874 participants following sexual assault and 394 (31%) of 1291 participants following consensual sexual intercourse. Meta-analysis of all included studies demonstrated that the presence of AGI was significantly more likely for participants following sexual assault than consensual sexual intercourse (RR 1.59 (95% CI 1.21, 2.09); Interpretation: Although AGI was significantly more likely to be detected after sexual assault than consensual sexual intercourse, more than half of survivors of sexual assault have no detectable injuries. The presence of AGI, therefore, does not prove there has been sexual violence and absence of injury does not refute that sexual assault has occurred. Funding: The University of Birmingham.
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