Coordinated Team Approach

Recommendations at a glance for jurisdictions to facilitate a coordinated team approach:   

Communities should ensure that victims, regardless of their backgrounds or circumstances, have access to medical, legal, and advocacy services. Use of a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach in conducting the medical forensic examination can afford victims access to comprehensive immediate care, help minimize trauma they may be experiencing, and encourage the use of community resources. Such a response can also enhance public safety by facilitating investigation and prosecution, thereby increasing the likelihood that offenders will be held accountable for their behavior and further sexual assaults will be prevented. Raising public awareness about the existence and benefits of a coordinated response to sexual assault may lead more victims to disclose the assault and seek the help they need.[1]
 
[1] This paragraph is drawn partially from American College of Emergency Physicians’ Evaluation and Management of the Sexually Assaulted or Sexually Abused Patient, 1999, p. 7.


Go to the Next Section: Coordinated Team Approach > Dual purposes of the exam

Download printer-friendly versions