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Back to main news pageAid to boost rape conviction rates
The UK’s first association for forensic nurses was launched at King’s College Hospital, Denmark Hill on 22nd March. The United Kingdom Association for Forensic Nurses (UKAFN) launched on Thursday and has been set up by Jo Delaforce, a forensic clinical nurse specialist at King’s rape crisis centre, the Haven.
Forensic nurses collect evidence from sexual assault victims and suspects as well as the collection of evidence in other types of cases. The association aims to raise awareness of their work and improve access to them. Statistics estimate that just six per cent of rapes end in a successful conviction, and the association will work with nurses across the country to try to improve methods of collecting evidence and thus improving conviction rates.
Nurse Delaforce said: “There is currently no nationally recognised accredited course for forensic nurse examiners and there are no protocols and minimum standards for forensic nurses. I devised the UKAFN to fill these gaps. We hope this will lead to higher conviction rates for rape cases and give complainants of sexual assault more confidence in the criminal justice system.”
Reliance Medical Services, a division of Reliance Secure Task Management Ltd, sponsored the event and were one of the first companies to become an Associate members of the UKAFN.
ENDS