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Article
Facing Victims: Forensics, Visual Technologies, and Sexual Assault Examination
Medical Anthropology
  • Sameena A. Mulla, Marquette University
Document Type
Article
Language
eng
Format of Original
24 p.
Publication Date
5-1-2011
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Abstract

This article analyzes a particular legal-medical artifact: the photos of wounds and injuries collected by forensic nurses who work with sexual assault victim-patients. I show how forensic expertise draws on multiple medical practices and adapts these practices with the goal of preserving the integrity of the evidence collection processes. In particular, forensic nurse examiners practice a rigid regime of draping and avoiding the victim-patient's gaze at other points in the examination. Unlike the examination, the photograph itself deliberately pictures the patient's gaze to break the plane of the image, giving the photographic artifact an affective charge as a truth-preserving object within a juridical process. Focusing on forensic photography sheds light on the techno-scientific possibilities that enable forensic encounters as they align therapeutic techniques with legal directives in new and problematic ways.

Comments

Medical Anthropology, Vol. 30, No. 3 (2011): 271-294. DOI.

Citation Information
Sameena A. Mulla. "Facing Victims: Forensics, Visual Technologies, and Sexual Assault Examination" Medical Anthropology (2011) ISSN: 0145-9740
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/sameena-mulla/1/