Observed Genital Injuries

The legal relevance and significance of my analyses in the preceding chapters could be rejected by the argument that I have [so far] not commented upon those two justificatory reasons which, according to the fifth and final judgment by the court of appeal, were decisive for the verdict.

One gynaecologist testified that injuries had been observed in Elvira's sex organ, which could only have been caused by sexual abuse. This expert also testified that girls never masturbate in a way that causes injury.

And a psychiatrist testified that Elvira suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and that this is a common effect of sexual abuse.

The gynaecologist who testified in this case was Kari Ormstad. She is unusually well known to several courts of appeal because of a remarkable number of strange contributions. She has invariably supported the prosecutor, unless contradicted. She has invariably observed some "injury" which "could only derive from sexual abuse". Most Swedish defence counsels are very passive. But in some cases the defence counsel engaged one or two other gynaecologists, who rejected her results. However, when faced with this situation in court she made a U-turn, retracted her evidence, and agreed with the defence experts. She always avoided conflict, and therefore her "mistakes" were soon forgotten.

In one case the photo of an infant's genitals showed a white stain. Ormstad testified that this stain proved that the girl had been abused. The defence counsel sent the photo to another doctor, who happened to receive the photo while he attended a medical conference. Therefore many doctors got the opportunity to study the photo. All agreed that the stain derived from the flashlight.

What should one think about judges who, in one case after the other, have convicted defendants on the basis of pseudo-evidence delivered by Ormstad

An unusually large defence team has re-analysed all the evidence of the Elvira case, and a new trial motion was prepared. Unfortunately, Oswald died from cancer, so the motion cannot be handed to the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, I can reveal that two gynaecologists state that there was no injury to Elvira's genitals. They also state that it is impossible to determine whether there are any injuries by the methods applied by Ormstad.

Although I am no gynaecologist, I can contribute with some crucial information. Injuries produced by masturbation can be found in the medical literature, and it is common knowledge that the pain threshold is many times higher during sexual ecstasy. Reich (1942:49) describes a female who used the handle of a knife as a masturbation tool. Occasionally the knife was inserted too far and produced bleeding wounds and fissures at the entrance to the vagina.







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Uppdaterad: 2009-11-19

Yakida