Background. In Ukraine, in the context of international armed conflict, there is a tendency to focus on European standards when investigating cases of physical, psychological and sexual violence against civilians. According to the UN, sexual violence in armed conflicts is difficult to detect and investigate. During the investigation of cases of sexual violence by law enforcement agencies, the results of forensic medical examinations of physical evidence with the study of microtraces and microobjects of biological origin play an important role in obtaining the evidence base, identification of species, sex, regional, organ-tissue affiliation. Aim: the analysis and generalization of recommendations regarding the actions of medical workers when documenting and fixing bodily injuries and selection of objects of biological origin for further forensic medical research (cytological, immunological, genetic) in cases of sexual violence. Materials and methods. Review of regulatory and legal documents and scientific and methodological publications in international electronic scientometric databases PubMed, Embase and Scopus by keywords, research and analysis of 110 cytological forensic studies for the period 2020-2024. Results. When cases of sexual violence are suspected/detected, professional thematic training of medical professionals on recording bodily injuries and documenting the results of medical examinations of victims, providing medical care to victims, and selecting biological objects for further research plays an important role (cytological, immunological, genetic) to prevent loss, destruction or destruction of the consequences of a sexual crime. Cytological forensic studies are of great importance in the investigation of sexual crimes, when it is necessary to clearly distinguish the composition of substances/layers from the scene of the crime (whether it is blood, including menstrual blood, sperm, saliva, fecal elements, cells of the oral cavity, vagina, rectum - as signs of sexual intercourse, as well as cells of the epidermis and blood - as signs of resistance). Conclusion. When investigating sexual crimes, it is very important to involve medical professionals to promptly record and document the facts of violence and to select biological objects for further research. This is especially important for reproducing/clarifying certain facts or confirming/clarifying the full real picture of a sexual crime in cases where the circumstances of the case do not always reflect the events due to the severe psychological state of the victim, the victim's failure to describe all the circumstances of the violence, personal shyness and fear, which limits the range of questions that investigators ask experts.
Babkina et al. (Mon,) studied this question.