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Sexual Assault Chapter Summary

Decent Essays

Mulla uses a variety of victims’ narratives, forensic nurses’ statements, and detectives and attorneys, along with research studies to strength her study on the different topics of forensic sexual assault intervention. Each chapter of this book contains a different topic that contextualizes the overall topic of medico-legal intervention in sexual assault. These topics include DNA, time, emotions, reproduction and production, technology, documentation, home and healing, and patient compliance. Each one of the topic alludes to how this medico-legal intervention contributes to a victim undergoing more “violence” that is in the form of “care”. Using the narratives of victims, research about sexual violence, and personal observations in each of …show more content…

Mulla highlights this point with DNA. DNA, Mulla describes it very similar to how the victim describes it, as DNA becomes the patient as victims and nurses race against time to preserve this factual evidence. The victim’s body is treated as the crime scene, and thus it is important for the forensic nurse to use the right techniques in order to gather DNA. Evidence gathering takes up much of the examination’s time is spent on DNA collection and wound documentation and often it these procedures are uncomfortable and painful for the victim, which ties in to the chapter of managing the emotions associated with obtaining evidence and hearing the narrative. Mulla shares this dialogue between a victim and a nurse: “You hurt me!’ The room was silent for a long moment before Crystal (the nurse) explained matter-of-factly, ‘I had to (47). To further support this point of DNA, Mulla includes a quotes from Emma, a forensic nurse, “DNA is like the hand of God pointing down and saying, ‘It’s you!” (38). With such a painful associated with the collection of DNA, one would assume the evidence collect would be process rather quickly. Mulla counters this

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