Obstacles to emergency medical consultation in cases of conflict-related sexual violence.

Background: Despite the availability of a well-developed holistic care model for victims of conflict-related sexual violence, little is known about the factors that determine late presentation for care post-sexual violence care. Drawing from data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this study aimed to determine obstacles to accessing emergency medical care within 72-hours of sexual violence (SV).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 4048 victims of SV treated at Panzi Hospital (PH) in Bukavu city between 2015 and 2018.