Rape is a very traumatising affair to happen to anyone. To be forcefully held down and be used like an object despite your objection.
Though one may feel embarrassed or fearful of reporting the incident, it is advisable to at least seek medical attention and counselling even if one is not planning to prosecute the perpetrator.
Gynecologist Wasike Wamalwa advised that it is important to get to the hospital within 72 hours of the incident.
Wamalwa said one should not shower or wash the clothes they were wearing during the incident, advising that the clothes should also be brought to the hospital.
He said there is a specific protocol for handling victims of rape to ensure evidence is not interfered with.
Wamalwa said there are trained specialists to whom rape victims are sent to for private assessment.
Once in the private assessment room, one is asked about their sexual history.
" There are question I will ask to confirm you have been sexually violated. Like when you last had intercourse, was it consensual. And the experience, was it painful," he said.
He said the sexual history will tell if the sex was consensual, forced or it might show there was no sex at all.
After the sexual history is given, doctors move to examine one's genitalia to take semen specimens if there was penetrative sex.
During the examination, Wasike said they look for signs of physical trauma around the genitalia.
" The trauma can be on the perineum, it can be on the vulva or in the vagina. We look for tears and lacerations," he said.
Wasike said there can be physical trauma not only in the vagina, but also anywhere else on the body. This is due to the resistance one puts up as they try fighting off the rapist.
During examination, doctors take specimens both for medical reasons for treatment and to confirm whether the rape allegations are true.
He said the trauma, both psychological and physical, will be more intense in kids than in adults. Though at times, rape can fail to leave behind any physical trauma.
" For children, you might find you will have to reconstruct their vagina and their perineum if there was major trauma. And of course these children will need to be counselled for a very long time," Wamalwa said.
He said when one is raped, they are predisposed to infections such as HIV/Aids and sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis and gonorrhea.
After confirming one was raped, they are tested for HIV before they are given post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent transmission.
If one is found to have HIV already, they are given counselling and put on medication immediately.
To prevent pregnancy, one is given contraceptives. But if one is already pregnant from the rape, the foetus is only terminated if the lady's health is at stake.
In this case, Wamalwa said, health refers to both mental and physical state.
" If you think the victim can commit suicide by carrying to term the pregnancy, then the law allows termination as their mental health is not okay," he said.
As they go home, the victim is put on antibiotics treatment to prevent STI's and PEP for 28 days to prevent HIV.
They are then advised to go to the police station and will return after a month for a health review.
Wamalwa said if it is confirmed that one was raped, the police forensic team is brought in to check for presence of hair, sweat, blood or any other form of DNA that belongs to the perpetrator.
The doctor only writes a report which might point in the direction of rape or not.
