The Forensic Exam: Assessing Health Characteristics of Adult Female Victims of Recent Sexual Assault

Abstract

Sexual assault of women is a major problem in the United States, and information about characteristics of adult female sexual assault victims who report and undergo a forensic exam is lacking. This study describes the health characteristics of recent adult female sexual assault victims who received a forensic exam and/or prophylactic treatment at a sexual assault center located in a southern urban area.

Assault History and Follow-Up Contact of Women Survivors of Recent Sexual Assault

“…The investigator is a part-time SANE at the sexual assault center, has permission to access the center's medical records, and is trained and experienced in entering and retrieving data from the computerized medical record (Boykins, 2005). Data collected by medical record review was recorded on a data collection sheet designed by the investigator.…”

Evaluation of image quality of digital photo documentation of female genital injuries following sexual assault

“…Such relationships across the professions provide victims of sexual assault medical treatment and forensic and legal evaluation of specific aspects of the case (ACEP, 1999;USDOJ, OVW, 2004). Currently RNs and APRNs comprise the majority of the forensic examiners educated to perform the evaluation of sexual assault patients integral to the legal aspect of patient care; however, the forensic examination is just one piece of the complex care necessary to mitigate the effects of victimization following sexual assault (Boykins, 2005). The forensic nursing evaluation involves specialized nursing knowledge, skills, and abilities regarding ethics, legal systems and outcomes, and public health formative and summative evaluation processes for individual and program improvement.…”