It used to be that evidence of sexual assault was not collected during the initial health exam unless the assault survivor had already initiated a report to law enforcement agencies. However, recognizing the trauma surrounding an assault, some states do conduct a forensic exam, store the evidence and allow survivors up to two years to decide whether or not to report the crime. Lead author Laurie Heffron discusses with AJN editor-in-chief Shawn Kennedy the findings of her mixed methods study of the impact of this nonreport option on health professionals, survivors and the criminal justice system.
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