Sexual Assault

Sexual violence has been considered and defined as a women’s issue for as long as it’s been recognized to even be an issue. Its definition should encompass the perpetrators and the socialization of people in societies that foster violence. By doing this sexual violence becomes not only a women’s issue but also a societal one. Though the minority of males are violent all men can have an influence on the culture and environment that allows other men to be perpetrators of violence. Prevention needs to include social and structural causes as well-as men’s gender role socialization. The socialization of men and their masculinity in society deserves examination. Now the FNE learns to recognize tissue damage consistent with rape or other types of sexual assault and to document damage with forensic photography. Accordingly the nurses are better able to testify when called to do so. They also learn to conduct the entire sexual assault examination reducing further trauma to the victim by reducing the number of people that must be encountered during the examination.