Stopping the Clock: Timing of Forensic Sexual Assault Exams, Injury Documentation, and Correlated Case Outcomes

• In Event: Victimology from a System Perspective: What Victims Want and How the System Operates

Abstract

The potential for successful prosecution increases the earlier a sexual assault survivor presents at the emergency department to complete a sexual assault kit (SAK) forensic exam. Research indicates that injuries are more apparent when survivors are forensically examined within 72-hours post-sexual assault compared to those examined after 72-hours. However, minimal research exists as to how the timing of SAK forensic exams, and injuries documented during those exams, influence case outcomes. We utilize Los Angeles police SAK data to examine the relationship between the timing of a SAK forensic exam post-sexual assault, injuries documented during those exams, and case outcomes (looking at arrest, conviction, and DA filing specifically) to remedy these gaps. To do this, we categorized assaults involving those who received a SAK exam within 12 hours, 24-hours, 72-hours, and post-72 hours of the assault.

Authors

• Shannon Harper, University of Illinois--Chicago

• Jon Maskaly, University of Texas as Dallas

• Anne Kirkner, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Angela Gover, University of Colorado Denver

• Paul Schewe, University of Illinois--Chicago