Quemaduras intencionales con ácido. Nuevas expresiones de violencia contra la mujer en Medellín, Colombia. Serie de casos

Restrepo-Bernal Diana; Gómez-González Alicia; Gaviria Silvia L

INTRODUCTION:

The deliberate burns with acid are recognized as violence against women described in the 17th century. However, in the second half of the 20th Century this practice becomes frequent in South East Asia, Africa and Middle East. In Latin America is a recent phenomena over which little has been published in the scientific literature.

OBJECTIVE:

To describe the clinical and psychic-pathological characteristics of 8 Colombian women burned with acid in the context of violence based on gender.

METHOD:

retrospective series of cases, patients admitted at a university hospital in a period of 7 years after being burned with acid within the context of hetero-aggression. The patients were attended by a group of interdisciplinary health professionals, including the psychiatrists. The psychiatric analyses were carried out parting from the non structured psychiatric interview complying with diagnostic criteria of the Statistic and Diagnostic Manual.

RESULTS:

Eight women with an average age of 29.5 years were attacked with acid in a period of 8 years. The context for the aggression was violence based on gender. All the attackers were males. The body surface burned was 24

in average. The ocular involvement was present in 80

of the cases, two of them with bilateral blindness. The direct aggressor was the partner in three cases. The reason for the attack was jealousy and revenge due to rejection to sexual or love advancements or pretensions.

CONCLUSIONS:

The burns with acid constitute a new expression of the violence based on gender in Colombia. This type of aggressions generates suffering, rejection and social isolation and although, it does not have the intent to cause death to the victim, it does leave permanent scars of the aggression.