The pattern of injuries involved with domestic violence (DV) or
interpersonal violence (IPV) typically involve facial injuries as the
most common site of injury. A study in the Journal Of The Royal Society of Medicine
showed that out of 539 adult victims of assault, 83% of all fractures,
66% of all lacerations and 53% of all hematomas were facial.
The arms
were the next most common sites of injury. Punching (72%) and kicking
(42%) were the most common methods of assault. Only six percent
involved any use of weapons. Out of all the types of inuries, those who
were kicked required the most hospitalizations. The numbers are very
similar to those found here in the U.S. as well.
This is what you're generally going to see when IPV is involved.
Punching, beating, kicking and choking are classic mechanisms of injury
found in domestic violence. It is mostly male against female, although
females can be abusive as well.
However, the guys are bigger and
stronger and when they hit, they tend to go for the face first. The
face doesn't have the underlying fat and tissue to help protect it,
like the rest of the body, so the injuries tend to show up quicker(and
be bloodier). What we would expect to see is any of the following:
- Split lip
- Broken teeth
- Teeth imprints in the lower lip
- A lacerated eyebrow
- A red eye that will soon turn black
- Bloody nose
- Possible cheek fracture
- Abrasions on the male's knuckles from hitting the victim's teeth
- Defensive injuries on the victim
- Scratches and /or crescent shaped imprint marks from the victim's fingernails on the male's arm
Gripping and punching of the arms is next. If bruises aren't
apparent yet, there are usually red marks showing on the upper arms.
There are often imprint marks from the fingers gripping the victim's
arms.
Kicking is usually done while the victim is down. Bruising,
abrasions, red marks or pattern marks from the shoe are usually
observable.
Strangulation
Strangulation is characterized by closing off either the blood vessels to the brain or the airway or both. In DV situations, strangulation is usually from the front, done by gripping the victim's throat. On the other hand, a choke hold is done from behind with one arm going across the victim's anterior throat, compressing the carotid arteries and veins.
The usual purpose of a choke hold is to render the opponent unconscious. It's usually committed by males against other males. It's not commonly used against females, except in domestic violence situations.
"Choking is a form of power and control. When batterers attempt to strangle
their victims, they are taking away their voice and preventing them from
screaming for help."-- Casey Gwinn, San Diego, City Attorney.**
The choke hold frequently leaves no visible injuries. In fact, often the visible injuries are on the batterers arms, from the victim trying to break the hold by digging deeply into his arms with her fingernails.
There are four mechanisms involved with injuries from a choke hold:
- Cardiac Arrhythmia from pressure on the carotid nerve ganglia - can cause cardiac arrest and death (rare)
- Pressure on the carotid arteries obstructing blood to the brain
- Pressure on the jugular veins - preventing blood returning from the brain - causes unconsciousness, respiratory depression, and asphyxia
- Obstructing the larynx - blocking air flow to the lungs * From the IAFN Newsletter: Manual and Ligature Strangulation
It takes only 11lbs. of pressure, held bilaterally for 10 seconds, to cause the victim to become unconscious.
If applied to a person under stress during a struggle, a
strangle may make the person unconscious almost immediately, while it may take
several seconds for a calm person to pass out.**
If released, consciousness returns in about 10-20 seconds.
If held for 50 seconds, damage is usually irreversible.
Death occurs at 1-2 minutes.
Policemen are no longer allowed to use this type of restraint against a strong, violent male prisoner due to the deaths that have occurred as a result of the compression on the airway.
It takes only 4 lbs. of pressure to obstruct the jugular veins.
To make a comparison:
It takes 6 lbs. of pressure to pull the trigger of a gun.
It takes 20lbs. of pressure to pull the tab on a soda can.
This is one of the biggest problems I had with the Duke accuser's original complaint. What was the purpose? We're talking about a 150 lb. impaired woman being held in a choke hold by a very tall, athletic player weighing in at around the 200lb. mark. The alcohol is a central nervous system* depressant. The Felxeril is a central nervous system* depressant.
CNS depressants can cause respiratory depression. The compression from the choke hold not only can cause unconsciousness in about 10 seconds, but can also cause respiratory depression. She said she was fighting and it was hard for her to breathe. For how long? Logically, in my opinion, she should have fallen unconscious even before she could have been fighting.
While the choke hold may not cause visible injuries, it can cause non-visible injuries such as laryngeal injuries and swelling, Hyoid bone fractures, a hoarse or raspy voice, and trouble swallowing. Since the accuser's complaints were in the initial police report, a strangulation form should have been filled out by the SANE nurse stating what injuries were noted. This is required for all complaints of strangulation / choking if evidence is found*. I would also have expected xrays to be done to check for internal injuries.
What I find interesting is not only the accuser's complaints so closely resembling those usually found in Domestic violence, rather than in this type of rape, but also the fact that there doesn't appear to be any such injuries anyway. At least, I haven't read of any so far.
No bruises, abrasions, tears, split lips, black eyes, pattern marks, hoarse voice, trouble swallowing....the list goes on. I have read of neck and back pain. I've also read that she has a chronic pre-existing condition involving neck and back pain.
Too many questions. Not enough answers.
* Clarified
Justice 58:As I said, I respect your opinion. You are certainly entitled to it, as is everyone. Lately, I've found some time to read various comments posted on the web about this case. Many of these comments disturb me greatly. Perhaps I am too naive. I guess I was kind of hoping that we had advanced further, as a society, than what I've been reading. I think the statement that these Duke boys should pay, whether they are guilty or not, just to make up for past injustices, was probably about the most offensive I've read so far.
Take your comment for example:
"Imagine this,your daughter being raped by some of the elite college students of Duke University ..."
Well, we do have a daughter. And the fact is, God forbid, if she were raped, it wouldn't matter to us who she was raped by. White, black, rich, or poor, it wouldn't matter. The only thing that would matter to my husband and I would be the fact that she was even raped at all.
We would feel extreme anger towards anyone who would commit violence against one of our children. Then again, we would feel just as angry should someone point the finger at our son and make a false accusation.
All citizens of this country are entitled to be protected against offenders. All citizens of this country are entitled to see justice done, should they become a victim of a crime. And all citizens of this country are entitled to full protection, under the law, if they are accused of a crime. That means everyone.
Under the law, every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. We don't pick and choose who is presumed innocent and who is presumed guilty based just on someone's word or whatever slant the media might take. It means that until their guilt is proven, they are presumed innocent in the eyes of the law and should be offered every protection granted them.
"...and no one will hear her cries of help because she's poor, black, and she's employed as a stripper."
Well, I'm going to have to disagree with you there too. I work in a large city hospital. Our city patients are primarily African-American, many of them poor. I can assure you, they are all "listened to" and respected.
We do hear their cries and so does our DA. I happen to be very proud of our sexual assault unit and the professional job they do. Every person's claim is taken very seriously. That doesn't mean they all end up in court. Many don't. That doesn't mean there aren't some false accusations here and there either. There sure are. What it does mean is that no one ignores anyone's "cries."
The stripper part - OK, let's talk about that. I could care less if she is a stripper. We get all kinds of people through our doors and we treat every single person with caring and respect no matter who they are.
What I do have a problem with though is the fact that she showed up for her job impaired. I don't care whether you're a brain surgeon or a stripper, you don't show up for work intoxicated. Most people know this!
The very fact that she would show up to work having, by her own admission, knowingly consumed alcohol and Flexeril, against medical warnings, indicates to me some serious pre-existing issues which causes me to question her credibility on that fact alone. Not to mention everything else.
"Imagine that your daughter was trying to get an education ...lets say, at a less than prestigious college than Duke University and no one would listen because *GASP* she has no wealth, power or prestige."
In addition to our city patients, we get many college kids through our doors. They don't come from prestigious colleges. And guess what? We still *GASP* listen! We don't ask our patients how much money they have. We don't ask them what they do for a living. It's none of our business! We only ask them what is relevant to treating them as a patient.
Now I have no idea what the detectives may ask but I'm assuming, since they bring them to our ER, that they too are *GASP* listening!
"The lowlife thugs (duke 3) brought this upon themselves and now must suffer the consequences of their own actions."
I'm sorry, have I missed the trial? Did it somehow bi-pass me when I wasn't paying attention?
"The parents of these thugs should have taught them to respect women..period.
Where is their d*mn morals? The parents should have spent more time raising their kids instead of counting all those dollar bills and leaving the kids to raise themselves.
These rich spoiled thugs were already headed on a collision course long before the Duke Rape Case."
Now see, this is what I find offensive. The fact that we haven't managed to get away from stereo types yet. Do you know these boys personally, Justice 58? Have you been inside their homes? Have you actually seen how they were raised? If not, how can you judge? This is as bad as someone pointing a finger at a black man just because he came from the poor side of town. It's the same thing. There's no difference!
You talk about those "spoiled rich white boys". They may be spoiled. They may even at times be arrogant. And then again, they may not. I personally don't know them, so I'm not going to judge them based on that fact alone. Show me some actual evidence. Show me some proof. Don't just point a finger and say they did it because they are rich and white!
You want to talk about being spoiled and arrogant, have you taken a good look at our own middle class kids lately? I have and I've seen alot of spoiled kids with bad manners and an extreme sense of entitlement. The rich do not hold a monopoly on arrogance!
Now I will agree with you on one thing and that is the college turning a blind eye to the abuse of alcohol by students. In the vast majority of rape allegations, alcohol is involved. I don't know why all the big surprise over this. From all my research, which was quite a bit, the booze parties have been an open secret at colleges and universities all over the country for a long time. Big and small, black and white, prestigious and not prestigious, it doesn't matter. It's everywhere.
This is where I feel the universities do need to be held accountable, as well as the students. I personally feel that alcohol should be banned on all campuses, as well as rules enforced against alcohol use in off campus housing. I guess it will never happen but I'd also like to see co-ed housing disappear. Most campus rapes happen in the dorms. There needs to be more proactive steps taken by our colleges and universities to prevent student alcohol use on and off campus.