Post-mortem sexual assault examinations – What works, what doesn’t and our recommendations

Abstract

Prior to 2013, doctors from the Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC) Perth were rarely asked to attend post-mortem examinations and then only when sexual assault/homicide was strongly suspected. Since the formation of the Faculty of Clinical Forensic Medicine (FCFM) within the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) a much more collaborative approach between Forensic Pathology and SARC has been adopted. Forensic pathologists (and homicide detectives) are requesting SARC attendance at post-mortem examinations with increasing frequency. From 2013 onwards, SARC has performed 33 post-mortem examinations with ten being in 2019 to date. Led by a senior SARC doctor (FCFM Fellow) and applying Clinical Forensic Medicine principles, SARC doctors are gaining valuable experience in this specialised area. SARC examinations with forensic specimen collection have assisted in both the identification of genital injury and detection of spermatozoa respectively. SARC doctors have also advised on normal anatomical variants thus excluding suspicious injury. In this presentation the SARC model of service delivery will be discussed, highlighting what has been successful (and what has not) to the forensic pathologist, the police and to SARC.