Universal-Womens-accesss-to-justice-Publications-Practitioners-Guide-Series-2016-ENG

220 PRACTITIONERS GUIDE No. 12
“Mandate proper collection and submission to court of
medical and forensic evidence, where possible;
“Mandate the timely testing of collected medical and
forensic evidence;
“Allow a complainant to be treated and/or examined by
a forensic doctor without requiring the consent of any
other person or party, such as a male relative;
“Ensure that multiple collections of medical and forensic
evidence are prevented so as to limit secondary
victimization of the complainant;
“State that medical and forensic evidence are not
required in order to convict a perpetrator; and
“Provide the possibility of prosecution in the absence of
the complainant/survivor in cases of violence against
women, where the complainant/survivor is not able or
does not wish to give evidence.” 585
Evidence-gathering: expert evidence on the
psychological state of victims
Gender-based violence, including rape, very frequently leads to
impairment of psychological health. 586 Expert evidence on
psychological health problems and needs of those subjected to
violations can be useful for a variety of reasons:
“Psychological evaluations provide useful evidence for
medico-legal examinations, political asylum applications,
establishing conditions under which false confessions
may have been obtained, understanding regional
practices of torture, identifying the therapeutic needs of
victims and as testimony in human rights investigations.
The overall goal of a psychological evaluation is to
assess the degree of consistency between an individual’s
account of torture and the psychological findings
observed during the course of the evaluation. To this
end, the evaluation should provide a detailed description
585
UN Handbook for Legislation on Violence against Women, above
note 511, page 41.
586
Istanbul Protocol, above note 577, paragraphs 260-315.