Sexual Assault Against Women: A Retrospective Study of 292 Cases in Fujian Province, China.

Introduction: In China, rape is defined as forced sexual intercourse against a woman's will by violence, coercion, or any other means or intentionally having sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 14 years who is legally incompetent of giving consent.

Method: A retrospective study of 292 cases of rape in Fujian Province, China, between the years 2014 and 2017 was conducted. Sociodemographic characteristics of victims and perpetrators, perpetration patterns of rape, and associated factors were reviewed and analyzed.

Results: Over a quarter of rape victims were under the age of 18 years. In over half of cases, the perpetrators were known to the victims, which was more frequent in minors than in adult victims. Over half of perpetrators were within the age range of 18-30 years. Most perpetrators had received a low level of education and were from low-income populations. Nighttime has the highest occurrence of rapes: 39.9% of rapes occurred during late night; and 24.6%, during early night. Victim perpetrator relationship and the location were significantly related (χ2 = 23.667; df = 3, 266; p < 0.001). Risk evaluation showed that 30.8% and 28.1% of cases occurred under medium- and high-risk settings, respectively. Sexual motivation was present in over 95% of cases. Physical force was used in almost half of cases. Less than half of victims received forensic clinical examination after perpetration.

Conclusions: The findings provide population-based data to contribute to the future development of prevention strategies and to raise awareness of the urgent need for victim assistance services.