A Medical Odyssey

Trans Woman Who Was Raped Turned Away by Hospitals

Evidence is also being collected in the domestic violence clinic.(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

After being raped, a homeless woman in Linz was denied help—which led to the creation of the sexual assault clinic at the University Hospital. But now there’s controversy again over a similar case. It involves a transgender woman who was shuffled from one facility to another after a sexual assault.

The incident occurred on May 26 but only came to light now because the victim went public with her story. The victim was born male, is now registered as a woman, and is therefore officially a transgender woman. According to the police report, she was drugged with knockout drops and then raped.

Gynecology Department Not Responsible
The victim managed to flee the apartment, used a borrowed cell phone to alert a friend, and sought refuge at her home. There, the police picked her up and then called an ambulance. Because, according to moment.at, the ambulance still hadn’t arrived after three-quarters of an hour, the police officers took the trans woman to the gynecology department at the Barmherzige Brüder Hospital. There, however, she was not treated because she is biologically male. 

The police were supposed to secure evidence in an adjacent room, but they left again because the evidence should have been secured by the hospital. Finally, the victim, who is complaining of panic attacks and pain, is referred to another hospital.

Three and a Half Hours of Waiting
She arrives—no evidence has yet been collected—at the Elisabethinen Hospital, transferred there by the ambulance. But here, too, the transgender woman is misidentified; she is “redirected” to the trauma unit at Kepler University Hospital. There, as stated in a police report, she is placed in a “storage room”; she is still not given any medication, and only after persistent demands is the victim admitted to the urology department. Her injuries were documented, blood was drawn—to test for knockout drops—and her clothing was secured as evidence. This did not happen until three and a half hours after the victim first arrived at a hospital. The investigation into the alleged rape is still ongoing.

“Krone” Exposed the Scandal
The case is reminiscent of an incident from the spring of last year, when a homeless woman from Linz was sent away from the gynecology department without treatment after being raped, despite being accompanied by a social worker. After “Krone” reported on this case, the sexual assault clinic was established, though it is still in the process of being set up. Here, victims of sexual crimes receive medical treatment, and evidence is collected to help convict perpetrators. In the case of the homeless woman who was raped, the investigation proved unsuccessful and was suspended.

Political Reaction
Linz City Councilwoman for Women’s Issues Eva Schobesberger (Greens) responded to the current case: “It’s inconceivable that such an incident is now happening again. Once again, a person who suffered a terrible ordeal—who was drugged and raped—has been let down.” It is unimaginable how terrible it must be to have to endure such an ordeal on top of a brutal act of violence. “This must not now be allowed to become business as usual. Hospitals must ensure that under no circumstances is even one more person turned away by a hospital after a rape, and that everyone who experiences something this terrible receives the necessary treatment immediately,” said Schobesberger.

KUK Executive Director Responds
“I reject such accusations in the strongest possible terms; our doctors are in no way to blame in this case,” emphasized KUK Managing Director Meinhard Lukas. The patient was treated as quickly as possible at Kepler University Hospital. At the same time, there was also an emergency that could not be postponed and still had to be addressed. Lukas: “However, the patient remained under the observation of our medical staff the entire time.”