ACCESS to female doctors and delays for forensic examinations are the two key issues for victims of rape and sexual assault, MSPs have heard.
During an evidence session about medical services for victims of sexual offences, witnesses described the current system as “an embarrassment” and said forensic examinations were “distressing and frankly unacceptable”.
Planned legislation proceeding through the Scottish Parliament aims to put a greater emphasis on the healthcare elements, rather than a predominantly justice-focused approach.
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The proposed Forensic Medical Services (Victims of Sexual Offences) (Scotland) Bill would also give women across Scotland the right to “self-refer”, to have forensic evidence taken and retained – even if they decide not to report the incident to police – and to assessments for their healthcare needs.
Rape Crisis Scotland’s chief executive, Sandy Brindley, said: “Access to a female doctor is the most important issue brought up by complainers speaking to us in terms of what causes the most trauma.
“But another significant issue that came up in the conversations we had with survivors last week was delays.
“You cannot overestimate the amount of distress caused by having to wait for a forensic examination.”
Addressing the “two key functions” of the bill, Brindley added: “One is self-referral but the other – just as importantly – is putting the responsibility on to health, to make it really clear that health has a responsibility to respond to the needs of rape survivors.
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“If we are going to get those services to the stage where they’re not an embarrassment to us as a country, I think it will need significant investment.”
Brindley also stressed the importance of properly funding independent advocacy services to support survivors before, during, and after forensic examinations.
At an earlier evidence session in front of Holyrood’s health committee, the head of the chief medical officer’s rape and sexual assault task force, Tansy Main, pointed out that, since 2017, the Government has provided funding for training to increase the number of women doctors conducting the forensic exams.
Main said: “Workforce data suggests 61% of sexual offence examiners in Scotland are now female; this is an increase of about 30%.”
A new postgraduate course is also being developed, with Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, for nurses to train as examiners.
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