Quemaduras intencionales con ácido. Nuevas expresiones de violencia contra la mujer en Medellín, Colombia. Serie de casos / [Deliberate burning with acid. New expressions of violence against women in Medellín, Colombia. Series of cases].

ABSTRACT

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