Abstract
Background
Sexual violence (SV) while travelling internationally is underreported and pre-travel advice is often focussed on broader tourist safety concerns. International travellers who experience sexual violence face particular challenges. The aim of this paper was to analyse the attendances of people who disclosed having been subjected to SV during international travel to the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU) network in the Republic of Ireland.
Methods
Analysis of all people who attended the national SATU network who disclosed an incident of SV experienced during international travel, and comparison of these cases with domestic case attendances.
Results
During the 7-year period studied, there were 6,447 attendances to the national SATU network, with 443 incidents reported as occurring outside Ireland; in 66 separate countries. The mean age of international attendees was 26.61 years, with females representing 90.3% of cases. Where an incident occurred internationally, the patient was less likely to disclose drug ingestion in the 24 h preceding the incident (p < 0.001) and significantly less likely to be assaulted in the assailant’s home (p = 0.009) when compared with domestic cases. Those who were assaulted internationally were significantly more likely to be assaulted by a stranger or recent acquaintance, i.e. ( p < 0.001).They were also more likely be assaulted in a location recorded as ‘other indoors’ (e.g. hotel, hostel etc) (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in alcohol consumption (p = 0.115) or frequency of assaults occurring outdoors (p = 0.155).
Conclusion
Our study has shown that 7% of attendances to the SATU network followed incidents of SV that occurred during international travel. The majority of these incidents were disclosed as being perpetrated by a stranger or recent acquaintance, in an indoor setting with over half having occurred in Europe. Individuals who experience SV while travelling abroad should be encouraged to seek immediate medical attention and appropriate follow-up care upon returning home.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Wyler BA, Young HM, Hargarten SW, Cahill JD (2022) Risk of deaths due to injuries in travellers: a systematic review. J Travel Med 29(5):taac074
Kennedy KM, Flaherty GT (2015) The risk of sexual assault and rape during international travel: implications for the practice of travel medicine. J Travel Med 22(4):282–284
Flaherty GT, Khairy WMZBM, Holmes A (2022) Sexual violence associated with international travel. J Travel Med.;30(4)
Charoensakulchai S, Onwan M, Kanchanasurakit S, Flaherty G, Matsee W (2024) Recreational substance use among international travellers. J Travel Med.;31(4)
Gareau E, Phillips KP (2022) Sexual behaviors at home and abroad: an online survey of Canadian young adult travelers. BMC Public Health 22(1):967
McGregor MJ, Ericksen J, Ronald LA, Janssen PA, Van Vliet A, Schulzer M (2004) Rising incidence of hospital-reported drug-facilitated sexual assault in a large Urban Community in Canada. Can J Public Health 95(6):441–445
Dorandeu AH, Pagès CA, Sordino M-C, Pépin G, Baccino E, Kintz P (2006) A case in south-eastern France: a review of drug facilitated sexual assault in European and English-speaking countries. J Clin Forensic Med 13(5):253–261
Wadhwaniya S, Hyder AA (2013) Pre-travel Consultation without Injury Prevention is incomplete. Oxford University Press Oxford, UK, pp 217–220
Santaolaya C, Malhotra J, Fowler JA, Warzywoda S, Debattista J, Mills DJ et al (2024) Integrating sexual and reproductive health into pre-travel consultations. J Travel Med.;31(4)
Abrahams N, Devries K, Watts C, Pallitto C, Petzold M, Shamu S et al (2014) Worldwide prevalence of non-partner sexual violence: a systematic review. Lancet 383(9929):1648–1654
Kane D, Holmes A, Eogan M (2024) Post-exposure prophylaxis, STI testing and factors associated with follow-up attendance: a review of 4159 cases of acute post-sexual assault medical care. Sex Transm Infect 100(1):39–44
FFLM. the provision of advice and help to those who have been raped or sexually assaulted whilst abroad (2022) https://fflm.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Provision-of-advice-to-those-who-have-been-raped-or-sexually-assaulted-abroad-Dr-B-Butler-Aug-2022.pdf
Funding
Not applicable.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Daniel Kane. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Daniel Kane with input from all authors and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclosure.
Informed consent
As the data analysed was irrevocably anonymized, individual patient consent was not required. Of note, each patient attending a SATU is asked to sign a consent form at the end of their visit, to allow their data to be used for research purposes. Participation is voluntary and patients may choose to decline.
Ethical approval
Ethical approval was obtained from the RAG committee Rotunda Hospital, Dublin for the collection of the data.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Kane, D., Holmes, A., Kennedy, K. et al. Sexual violence associated with international travel: a review of 443 cases. Int J Legal Med (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-024-03388-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-024-03388-9