SAFEta and EVAW are hosting a joint webinar, Forensic Compliance: Where Do We Stand in 2012? The session will actually be offered twice–February 7th and February 16th, at 2pm ET. Kim Day and Kim Lonsway, from the above organizations, respectively, will be the presenters. Get registered, because you know this one is worth your time. And, of course, it’s free.
From the site:
All states and territories had to certify as of January 5, 2009 that they were in compliance with VAWA 2005 requirements for medical forensic examinations. Specifically, exams must be available to sexual assault victims: 1) free of charge, and 2) regardless of their decision to participate in the criminal justice process. Yet communities have faced considerable challenges in designing protocols that are compliant, in areas such as: the initial response to a sexual assault disclosure, payment for the medical forensic examination, mandatory reporting to law enforcement, storage and transportation of evidence, case tracking and retrieval, processing of evidence, and the potential for evidence-based prosecution (i.e., without the victim’s cooperation). For many states and territories, the changes that are required in public policy and daily practice have been described as “monumental.”
This webinar will discuss some of the best practices that have developed over the past six years in response to these provisions of the Violence Against Women Act of 2005.