The policy of community-based victim assistance efficiently integrates the protection and means of relief for victims of a violation of the law with the development of knowledge addressed towards avoiding further deception.
Victims of the violation of the law require assorted backing programs in order to receive assistance in handling bodily, emotional, fiscal and constitutional aftereffects of their assault (Davis, Lurigio, & Herman, 2013). Community-based programs suggest assistance that involve “help coping with the trauma of violent victimization, help filing victim compensation claims and insurance forms, help accessing long-term rehabilitation treatment, hospital visitation, self-protection education to help prevent revictimization, advocacy and liaison with the police regarding filing a complaint and making a statement, crisis intervention and support groups for victims, and guidance through court proceedings” (Community-based advocates, 2011, para. 3).
Moreover, community-based associations usually educate policemen about helping the victims of the crimes and introducing them to the multitude of similar assistant programs that are accessible within their place of residence (Campbell, 2011).
There are several community-based programs of victim assistance in Georgia. One of them is ‘Adult/Adolescent Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners’, or else known as SANE. The representatives of this program are registered nurses, which have finalized their learning and analytic preparation in the medicinal forensic care of victims of sexual abuse (Campbell, Greeson, Bybee, & Fehler-Cabral, 2012). Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program has its strengths and limitations, which will be described further.
SANE proposes various segments of the modernized care, which includes extensive medicinal forensic test. The exam consists of “medical forensic history, a detailed physical and emotional assessment, written/electronic and photographic documentation, collection and management of forensic samples, and providing emotional and social support and resources” (Sexual assault nurse examiners, 2015, para. 2). Moreover, the SANE gives testimonies in legal course of actions that are connected to the medical checkup and establishes that the provided proof will be relevant and justifiable at court.
Another strength of the SANE lies in colluding with several other practices in the society that are able to arrange exclusive support for the victims of the sexual assault. For example, “these may include advocates, law enforcement, crime lab personnel, child protection and attorneys” (Sexual assault nurse examiners, 2015, para. 3). Furthermore, the representatives of these practices are willing to ensure that the victims of sexual assaults receive the support that is sympathetic and forbearing and, therefore, develops into a lucrative reaction of the criminal justice system.
The SANE program requires serious selection of candidates: in order to join it, a registered medic is obliged to have an experience with physical evaluation training for no less than two years. This also is considered to be one of the strengths of the SANE program, as it includes only highly qualified professionals who are capable of providing the necessary assistance for the victims of sexual assaults.
Nevertheless, despite obvious advantages of the SANE mentioned above, there are also several limitations to the program. First of all, in cases where the representatives of SANE are directing evidentiary examinations, their knowledge and preparation can interfere with the work of the advocates. Moreover, the role of SANEs is limited to conducting support, treating depression and maintaining medical-legal care; they are not able to serve as the attorneys of a victim (Toon, 2014). Furthermore, the testimony given by the victim to the representative of the SANE may be or may be not transferred into the possession of the attorneys and detectives that are working on the case; if transferred, the verbal evidence would be mentioned in the official reports.
References
Campbell, R. (2011). Adolescent sexual assault victims’ experiences with SANE-SARTs and the criminal justice system. Web.
Campbell, R., Greeson, M. R., Bybee, D., & Fehler-Cabral, G. (2012). Adolescent sexual assault victims and the legal system: Building community relationships to improve prosecution rates. American Journal of Community Psychology, 50(1-2), 141-154. Web.
Community-based advocates. (2011). Web.
Davis, R. C., Lurigio, A. J., & Herman, S. A. (2013). Victims of crime (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. Web.
Sexual assault nurse examiners. (2015). Web.
Toon, C. (2014). Forensic nurse examiners versus doctors for the forensic examination of rape and sexual assault complainants: A systematic review. Crime and Justice 10(5), 3-56. Web.