Manual for Medical Examination of Sexual Assault

Published By :Centre for Enquiry Into Health and Allied Themes
Published Date : 2010
Veiws :
Downloads : 34

This manual is part of the effort to achieve ensuring the protocols and procedures utilized at health facilities to examine and treat survivors of sexual violence are gender sensitive and that their right to health is realized in all instances. It provides step-by-step instructions for responding to the needs of survivors of sexual violence, from the point of their entry into the health facility, to their exit and follow-up care. It highlights the process of seeking informed consent, discerning the victim's history, forming a medical opinion and conducting a medical examination, collecting and preserving forensic evidence, and providing medical treatment and psychosocial support.The manual also includes: a proforma model for documentation; information on laws related to the appropriate role of health care workers in the examination and treatment of survivors of sexual violence; and evidence from intervention research addressing the nature of sexual assault, factors leading to the loss of evidence, and the limitations of medical evidence,such as the absence of genital injuries.

Keywords :sexual assault, protocols, procedures, gender sensitive, sexual violence, survivor, health facility, informed consent, medical examination, collecting forensic evidence, health care workers

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