Pugh, Sam; Valentine, Julie; Miles, Leslie (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Valentine, Julie (Brigham Young University, College Of Nursing); Miles, Leslie (Brigham Young University, College of Nursing)
Rape is generally recognized as a sexual assault by a male perpetrator to a female victim. However, sexual assault is a crime that affects all genders. Although the majority of rapes are male to female, current findings indicate that one in seventy-one men will be raped in their lifetime. Over time, research has recognized the psychological effects and underreporting that ail male rape victims. However, very little has been reported regarding short tandem repeat (STR) DNA findings from sexual assault kits of male victim rapes. These STR DNA profiles prove to be highly influential in the detainment and prosecution of perpetrators. After an extensive search for earlier publications concerning the topic, only three articles were found to have relative correlation to this topic. Current best practice is to obtain STR DNA profiles from sexual assault kit samples to enter into the FBI Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate DNA analysis findings from 266 sexual assault kits collected from male sexual assault victims and compare predictors for the development of CODIS-eligible STR DNA profiles of male victims to female victims. Our study methodology is an exploratory, retrospective design to identify male rape victims from a sample size of 5,758 victims who received sexual assault forensic examinations with sexual assault kit evidence collection. Approximately 5% of the victims in our study were male (N=266). Male victims were found to have more physical or mental impairments. Male victim cases revealed significantly less development of STR DNA profiles and CODIS-eligible DNA profiles of the perpetrator (p=.007). Due to low STR DNA profile yields and increased targeting of mentally impaired or otherwise vulnerable male victims, we must improve our response to male victims to ensure justice to all victims of sexual assault.