Police surgeons and victims of rape: cultures of harm and care

Title: Police surgeons and victims of rape: cultures of harm and care
Creator: Bourke, Joanna
Relation: Social History of Medicine Vol. 31, Issue 4, p. 711-731
Publisher Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/shm/hky016
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Resource Type: journal article
Date: 2018
Description: Between the late 1960s and the late 1980s, police surgeons found themselves under concerted attack for their treatment of victims of rape and sexual assault. This article explores the tensions they faced between the needs of victims and their legal responsibilities. Should they prioritise care or the collection of evidence? How did they respond to criticism and why were reforms inadequate? I show how institutional structures and ideologies help explain the longevity of cultures of harm within the sub-discipline of police doctors. However, to understand the tenacity of these practices, we need to interrogate more fundamental processes associated with bodily interactions, emotion and language.
Subject: rape; police surgeons; history; forensic medical examiners; 1980s; sexual violence; body; history of medicine
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1404406
Identifier: uon:35331
Identifier: ISSN:0951-631X
Language: eng
Reviewed

		Thumbnail	File	Description	Size	Format