“Most male victims of sexual assault don’t have their case heard. Of 138 audited reports by males, only 30% went to the police. Of those, 80% never made it to court. Of those that did, the conviction rate was a bit over 60%,” writes legal columnist HUGH SELBY. 

Canberra is well served by the Forensic and Medical Sexual Assault Care Centre (FAMSAC) at the Canberra Hospital, Woden. 

Any person with concerns about a sexual encounter within the previous five days can be referred, at any time of the day or night, for expert and compassionate medical care.

Those aged 14 or under will be referred to the Paediatric Forensic Medical Service, also at the Canberra Hospital.

The care will include treatment and evaluation of any injuries, voluntary forensic collection of samples that may be useful for any police investigation, medication that may be necessary for possible HIV, sexually transmitted disease, post intercourse contraception, and, if necessary, referral to other service providers 

Clinical forensic medicine (CFM) extends beyond allegations of sexual assault. These skills are needed to assess and interpret non-fatal injuries suffered during domestic violence, or assaults that occur, for example, at pubs, schools, road rage, in melees and robberies.

While privacy and confidentiality have always been a part of CFM, the data about their patients means that it is now possible to interrogate that de-identified data and publish useful reports that will help better understanding of behaviour and, hopefully, influence good policy development.

Between 2023 and 2025 reports written by local ACT experts (published in the Sexually Transmitted Infections Journal, Emergency Medicine Australasia, and the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine) have covered these topics (paraphrased for easy understanding):

• The prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI) among those reporting unwanted sex;
• Do male victims who report sexual assault then continue to criminal trials?
• The prevalence of non-fatal strangulation in non-sexual assault cases; and,
• Signs, symptoms and injuries such as Black eye and other injuries seen with non-fatal strangulation.

After reporting a sexual assault what might happen?

The offer of STI testing is accepted by almost everyone who comes to FAMSAC. 

A survey of the data collected over 18 years looked at some 1900 patients. Of these, at initial testing, 5 per cent had chlamydia, while gonorrhoea was found in less than 0.5 per cent. There are two follow ups, one after some weeks, and the other at three months. This showed treatment to be effective, though chlamydia was still present in some cases (notably among those aged 15 -29).

Most male victims of sexual assault, even after attending FAMSAC, do not have their case heard in the criminal justice system; 138 reports by males between 2004 and 2022 were audited. Only 30 per cent of those who attended then went on to report to police. Of those, 80 per cent never made it to court. Of those few that did make it to court the conviction rate was a bit over 60 per cent. 

These results should not surprise. The angst, embarrassment and humiliation that is part and parcel of giving evidence to strangers about a sexual experience is well reported among female complainants. Those feelings are no less among male reporters of unwanted sexual acts.

Strangulation and eye injury in non-sexual assault cases

Those who don’t beat up their partners or others at home might be surprised to learn how often these assaults include strangulation, aka choking.

Between 2018 and 2022 ACT police referred 315 non-sexual assault cases to CFM. Of these, a staggering 170 included strangulation, that’s more than 50 per cent. Among these 170, around 40 per cent thought that they might die.

These patients reported neck pain (77 per cent), unable to breathe (60 per cent), headache (56 per cent), sore throat (53 per cent), and voice changes (47 per cent). Neck injuries, such as bruising, scratch marks, and neck swelling were detected in 77 per cent.

The stranglers were nearly all male, 60 per cent being the current partner, 20 per cent being a former partner and 10 per cent a family member. Nearly 50 per cent of them used two hands. In nearly 30 per cent of cases one or more children were present when the strangling took place.

And the strangler is more likely than not to do it more than once. Given the number of family violence deaths, and the element of chance that separates the non-fatal from the fatal strangling, the propensity to do it again is frightening.

For too many people, “home” is a dangerous place to be. For too many children the lessons of family violence, whether as assaulters or victims, are learned early and often.

Turning to eye injury, the thin, clear membrane that covers the inside of your eyelid and the white of your eye is called the conjunctiva. Injury to it and to the eyelid, commonly recognised as a “black eye”, has been studied in 85 non-sexual assault victims who were part of a larger cohort of 315 patients examined by CFM.

As well as the “black eye”, patients may also have other injuries to the eye and the eye socket. It can be caused by blunt trauma, such as a blow, or a penetrating injury. There can also be retinal detachment or a break in one or more of the bones around the eye socket.  

The cause of the “black eye”, being blunt force (for example, from a fist) may have long-term complications such as cataract and glaucoma for the victim. Because of these potential serious outcomes it is now the practice to refer such patients for follow up by an optometrist.

Among those “black eye” victims around half had been non-fatally strangled (this time). This means that the attacker has so lost control that “he” (in nearly all cases) both strangles his victim and punches their head in the eye region.

With family and friends like these there is no need for enemies.

Hugh Selby is a former barrister and the CityNews legal columnist.