Citation

Muleta M, Williams G. Lancet 1999; 354(9195): 2051-2052.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10636376

Abstract

The article reports on the occurrence of postcoital injuries in 91 women treated at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital between 1991 and 1997. Among the 91 women, 78 had been sexually abused under the cover of marriage; 9 were kidnapped with the intention of marriage, raped, and then discarded by their would-be husbands; and 4 were kidnapped and raped. These Ethiopian women were victims of societal tradition which condone forced abduction and rape by men who cannot afford a wife, and a society where young girls were forced to perform domestic duties resulting to vesicovaginal fistula or rectovaginal fistula. Moreover, women who develop such injuries were usually perceived to have no further value as a wife. Of the 78 married women in the study who were injured, 59 were divorced and 19 were abandoned. Their total fecal incontinence means that these girls and young women were regarded as outcasts by society. In view of this, a need for a change in attitudes and behavior within traditional societies was considered. These changes would include education, amendment of policies and laws and interventions from the government and health workers.

Language: en