Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Forensic Medicine Toxicology

Background: Death is an inevitable aspect of life. Manner of death can be either natural (illness and malfunction of an organ) or unnatural. Unnatural death is considered accidental, Homicidal, suicidal or undetermined. Violence against women is a global public health problem, which at its most extreme, results in femicide {u2013} homicide of a woman regardless of the gender or intent of the perpetrator. Intimate partner violence is the most common form. Aim of the work: The purpose of this study was to statistically assess unnatural deaths among females in the childbearing age group at Zeinhom morgue; taking in consideration the medico legal aspects of different manners of unnatural death (homicidal, suicidal and accidental) and risk factors associated trying to identify and develop preventive strategies Subjects and Methods: The present work is a prospective cross sectional study which was conducted at Zeinhom morgue (the Egyptian Forensic Medicine Authority (EFMA) and included 151 Egyptian female cadavers in the age group 13-49 yrs., taking into consideration the medicolegal aspects of different manners of unnatural death (homicidal, suicidal, accidental).Data were analyzed with respect to demographic data of the patients, circumstances of death, history of psychiatric disease and drug abuse and post-mortem examination. Results: Unnatural death mainly occurred during the active stages of life (2nd -3rdh decades). Most of homicidal cases were above 30 years, while suicidal cases were below 30 years. The majority of the cases were from urban residence. (40.4%) of the cases were single, while (39.1%) were married and most of the victims were non pregnant. The home was the commonest place of violence against women

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