• Céline Denis, Céline Paret, and Patrick Chariot.
• AP-HP, hôpital Jean-Verdier, service de médecine légale et de médecine sociale, avenue du 14 juillet, 93140 Bondy, France.
• Presse Med. 2018 Jan 1; 47 (1): e1-e8.

Objectivesto identify characteristics of victims of sexual assault or domestic violence who consulted in a Department of Forensic Medicine without a formal complaint to the police.Methodsobservational study (03/01/2014-08/31/2015) of individuals (age>15years) consulting in a Department of Forensic Medicine near Paris, France, after a sexual assault or domestic violence. Among the individuals who were examined in the department of Forensic Medicine, we compared the individuals who had not complained to the police to those who had complained to the police.ResultsA hundred and nine individuals have consulted without a prior complaint to the police, including 73 persons after domestic violence (i.e. 4% of all persons examined with or without a complaint to the police) and 36 persons after a sexual assault (i.e. 8% of all persons examined). Regarding domestic violence, the proportion of persons presenting recent traumatic injuries was lower among those who did not complain to the police than among those who did (64% vs. 78%, P=0.008). Regarding sexual violence, the persons who did not complain to the police were more frequently uncertain about the assault (42% vs. 13%, P<0.001), reported more frequently a recent alcohol or drug intake (42% vs. 26%, P=0.039) and less frequently showed extragenital traumatic injuries than the persons who did complain to the police (22% vs. 43%, P=0.016).Conclusionthe persons examined who had not complained to the police accounted for less than one in 20. The extension of the activity of a Department of Forensic Medicine to persons who do not want to be involved in a judicial process is not sufficient for the majority of victims to consult a forensic physician.Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

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