Legislation related to sexual assault should:
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provide that the responding officers shall provide the survivor with transport to the forensic medical facility if needed.
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require that police coordinate with prosecutors, medical support services, survivor support groups and advocacy agencies (UN Handbook, 3.2.4; AusAID, 2007-Ch. 5).
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provide that police refer victims to coordinated sexual assault response teams or programs to give survivors a broad range of necessary care and services (legal, medical, and social services) and to increase the likelihood that the assault can be successfully prosecuted (See: Assault Response Teams, The Advocates for Human Rights).
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require that police receive training on a regular basis on the latest information about sexual assault survivors and the most respectful methods of handling these trauma survivors ("Sexual assault: key issues" Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol. 100. 2007).
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require police departments to regularly review sexual assault cases to ensure compliance with procedures and to sanction officers as necessary.
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require police to promptly complete detailed reports of sexual assaults and to make them available to survivors, as reports aid survivors in pursuing protection orders, civil remedies, immigration petitions, insurance benefits, and compensation claims (The Toolkit to End Violence Against Women).
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mandate specialized police units with specific training on sexual assault response and investigation. All-women sexual assault investigative teams and police stations with dedicated rooms should be available so that the survivor of a sexual assault is comfortable in speaking to police (Model Strategies; Toolkit to End Violence Against Women).
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require the development of police protocols that are centered upon survivor safety and efficient, respectful investigation of sexual assaults.
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state that police must develop protocols for survivor interview and medical testing in order that she may report and be examined in a confidential, respectful and timely manner for successful evidence use at trial. (See: Model Strategies, 8(b) p. 41, UN Handbook 3.8). See for example, The Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act (1998) of the Philippines Section 4(c).
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mandate the dedication of resources to police for investigation of sexual assault cases so that cases are not under-funded or ignored as “domestic” cases (See: Case Study: Human Rights Watch Report: Testing Justice: The Rape Kit Backlog in Los Angeles City and County).
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mandate that police response to sexual assault cases, and the number of cases which are prosecuted, be reviewed by an independent task force to take note of compliance with established procedures and of offender accountability statistics (Model Strategies, 8(e)). See also: "Form for Evaluating Police Response to Rape and Sexual Assault," Women's Justice Centre (Protocols and Polices, The Advocates for Human Rights).
(Excerpted from and see the Roles and responsibilities of police in responding to Sexual Assault sub-section of the Legislation module for details on illustrative examples and promising practices)