![handle is hein.journals/hjcj35 and id is 1 raw text is:
The Howard journal Vol 35 No 1. Feb 96
ISSN 0265-5527, pp 1-20
Doctors, Rape and Criminal Justice
JENNIFER TEMKIN
Professor of Law and Director, Centre for Legal Studies,
University of Sussex
Abstract: This article considers the medical examination of women who report rape to the
police. Fourteen women who reported rape to the Sussex police between 1991 and 1993 were
interviewed in depth about their experience of the medical examination. Eighty-six per cent of
them were wholly, mainly or partly negative about it whilst 36% were wholly or partly positive.
The article considers those factors perceived as positive and those perceived as negative. It offers
some suggestions as to how medical services for victims of rape might be improved.
In the 1970s concern began to be expressed in this country about the
treatment of rape victims by the criminal justice system (see, for example,
Heilbron Committee 1975). One aspect of this disquiet was the manner in
which medical examinations were conducted (see, for example, Smith
1980). Improvements in victim care introduced in the 1980s generally
included measures to ameliorate the provision of medical services but
there has been very little research to confirm how successful these
measures have been from the consumer point of view.' This article
examines the medical experiences of a sample of women who reported
rape to the Sussex police during the years 1991 to 1993 with a view to
ascertaining their attitudes towards and perceptions of the service which
was provided. It will also consider whether there is room for further
improvement.
Background
In the late 1970s and 1980s, trenchant criticism was voiced about almost
every aspect of the medical examination of sexual assault victims (see, for
example, Smith 1980; Davis 1985; Blair 1985). It was suggested that
forensic examinations were not uncommonly carried out negligently, so
that vital evidence was lost, and that police surgeons were forming their
own rapid judgments as to the veracity of the complainant which was
leading to less than thorough examinations in some cases (Smith 1980,
pp. 48-9). There was frequently little collaboration between police
investigating the case and the examining surgeon with the result that
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@ Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1996, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 I]F, UK
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