Dear Fellow members, please read through the problems highlighted in sexual assault examination at United Kingdom. This will give us an idea where do we stand in India. More importantly stake holder in the Ministry of Home, Ministry of women and child welfare, Ministry of Law and Justice along with other NGOs should be contacted in New Delhi and at State Capitals to involve them in generating a strong response against the ludicrous suggestions put forth in the vision 2015 documents by some ill informed policy makers.
The comments are by – Dr K .P. Shubhakar MB BS, MD, DNBFM, MFFLM
Rapists going free through errors by inexperienced doctors, says BMA
Rapists are not being convicted because doctors are making errors when examining victims, according to medical experts specialising in sexual assaults.
Vital clues are being lost because of the large number of doctors conducting forensic examinations who are not up to the job, it is claimed.
Dr George Fernie, chairman of the British Medical Association's forensic medicine committee, told the Guardian: "Rape victims are being let down. If you don't have a doctor that knows what he or she is doing, and doesn't conduct an effective examination, then they are being let down by that."
The inexperience and lack of expertise of such doctors is leading to cases in which a defendant escapes conviction, said Fernie. He is concerned that a shortage of forensic medicine experts, known as sexual offence examiners, means that "there are some cases that don't have doctors that are properly trained and skilled in this area of practice and therefore that they are contributing to a reduction in the rape conviction rate because they haven't conducted the crucial initial examination properly".
Gold-standard sexual offence examiners combine compassion and professionalism, have rigorous training and develop significant experience, which is often needed in court. Being examined by less ideal doctors can be traumatic in itself for an already traumatised victim, and more likely to lead to unnecessary problems in court."
Forensic physicians, who used to be called police surgeons, examine detainees in custody, cases of sudden death and victims of violent and sexual crimes. Their evidence-gathering, especially with victims of rape and child sexual abuse, can prove crucial in court cases.
But there are "many too few" with the right skills and experience to cover such cases because training in this work is no longer given at medical schools, some private firms employed by more than half the 43 police forces in England and Wales employ doctors who are not suited to the task, and recruitment into the specialism – especially of women – is difficult because of the antisocial hours involved
"We have issues with no evidence being gathered at all, and with the quality of evidence being gathered in some cases, and [with] how this evidence is presented in court by doctors who are called as witnesses."
"If the forensics aren't good quality and not independent, what does that tell you about the importance of rape investigations? It seems to be not a priority for the police or the medical authorities,"
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