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Facing Victims: Forensics, Visual Technologies, and Sexual Assault Examination

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 30; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01459740.2011.561820

1545-5882

Sameena Mulla,

Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics

Abstract This article analyzes a particular legal-medical artifact: the photos of wounds and injuries collected by forensic nurses who work with sexual assault victim-patients. I show how forensic expertise draws on multiple medical practices and adapts these practices with the goal of preserving the integrity of the evidence collection processes. In particular, forensic nurse examiners practice a rigid regime of draping and avoiding the victim-patient's gaze at some points in the forensic routine while engaging the victim's gaze at other points in the examination. Unlike the examination, the photograph itself deliberately pictures the patient's gaze to break the plane of the image, giving the photographic artifact an affective charge as a truth-preserving object within a juridical process. Focusing on forensic photography sheds light on the techno-scientific possibilities that enable forensic encounters as they align therapeutic techniques with legal directives in new and problematic ways. Key Words: clinical gazegynecologylawnursingrape ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research for this project was generously supported by grants from the Social Science Research Council's Sexuality Research Fellowship Program and the National Science Foundation's Program in Law and Social Science. I have also benefitted from the feedback and engagement of Deborah Poole, Veena Das, Harry Marks, Don Selby, Valeria Procupez, and Gayle Miller, as well as two anonymous reviewers. I'd also like to thank the Science, Technology and Medicine Workshop at the Center for 21st Century Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee where I presented a version of the paper upon which the article was based, and the Department of Anthropology at Wesleyan University who also responded with thoughtful questions and comments. Despite all of the support and feedback, the flaws in this article are wholly my own. Notes I use the term "victim-patient" as it corresponds to the roles medical and legal institutions invest in the person lodging an accusation of sexual assault. I do not use "survivor" as the state has little interest in the victim-patient as a survivor. This approach also makes the forensic examination the focus of the analysis in hopes of broadening anthropological conversations on sexual violence by looking at medico-legal techniques rather than cross-cultural difference (Bletzer and Koss Citation2004). Understanding the institutional context and imaginary of the intervention can contribute to discussions of cultural orientations toward sexual assault. Mittleman, Goldberg, and Waksman are an interdisciplinary team, respectively, a forensic pathologist, an emergency department nurse, and a state's attorney. Their article on evidence collection and preservation demonstrates a collaborative framework integrating medical and legal personnel. Dumit's descriptions of PET scan technologies in Picturing Personhood (Citation2004) engage the interdisciplinarity of the technology as it relies on various sets of chemical, medical, and mechanical experts in order to produce the images that are used in varying therapeutic and legal contexts. The FNE is not privy to the interview conducted by the police. The FNE's interview, the uniformed police officer's report, and the sex crimes detective's detailed interview may be compared by the prosecution and the defense. While the photographs also become part of the medical chart, the rape kit forms are not entered. The exam findings are not part of the medical chart, although vitals data and major injuries are recorded. The production and circulation of forensic photographs follows the logic of a visual economy (Poole Citation1997:9–10). To understand the frames through which forensic photographs of sexual assault victims can be interpreted, it is important to understand their potential trajectories and destinations, the second component of Poole's visual economy. The circuits through which the photographs travel and accumulate are invested in a juridical project of truth-making. One nurse told me that over the course of her 12 years as a forensic examiner, she had carried out over 350 examinations. Out of those 350 cases, she had only been required to go to court three times. Of the four cases that I tracked over a six-month period, only one had reached prosecution. During one forensic examiner-training course, a representative of the Office of the State's Attorney cited a 30 percent prosecution rate of all cases that had undergone forensic examination. Another example is the comb used to collect pubic hair for hair and debris samples. Until 2003, the comb included in the forensic examiner kit was a standard five-inch black, plastic comb. FNEs often commented on the awkwardness of the shape and size of the comb. In 2003, the examiner kit was modified and a smaller white comb was substituted for the black comb. The size made it more maneuverable, while the color made it easier to see any findings. Others depend on photographs to emphasize duration. In statutory rape cases in which the victim-patient is an adolescent, the appearance of her body and sexual organs can change rapidly as she awaits trial. The photograph, with duly appended note on the Tanner Stage of the victim-patient, will show a young girl's genitals, even if the victim-patient appears to be an adult when she takes the stand to testify. Photographs can also erase duration by showing a wound that has long-since healed. Additional informationNotes on contributorsSameena Mulla SAMEENA MULLA is Assistant Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Social and Cultural Sciences at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She is currently completing a book manuscript on the legal and medical intersections in sexual assault intervention.