Ill-trained GPs lead to rape case failures

RAPE prosecutions have collapsed because inexperienced and ill-trained GPs are being drafted in to carry out specialist forensic examinations, the Mid-Western Health Board claims.

In a proposal for a dedicated sexual assault unit in the region, which covers Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary, the board notes: "There are documented cases where GPs inexperienced in forensic examinations and court testimony have been a critical factor in unsuccessful prosecutions. However, the frustrations experienced by the gardaí and medical personnel pale in comparison to the additional trauma experienced by victims waiting for forensic examinations and undergoing such examinations in ad hoc circumstances."

The board warned this situation may contribute to under-reporting of sexual assaults. A recent study by the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland found that less than 8% of women and 1% of men report sexual assault.

Sex assault victims in the Mid-Western region are currently brought to the dedicated treatment unit set up in Cork last year, a journey which can take between two and three hours.

Before that unit opened, victims had to wait up to six hours while gardaí attempted to find a GP to carry out the forensic examination in Limerick.

"This delay is unacceptable in dealing with people who have been recently raped or sexually assaulted and only further prolongs the trauma experienced by the victim. The experience has been known to deter victims from proceeding through the criminal justice system," the report cautions.

Official figures show that 121 people were sexually assaulted in the Mid-Western region last year.

Spokeswoman for the Rape Crisis Network Ingrid Wallace said women from the more remote parts of Clare, Limerick or Tipperary may have to spend three hours travelling in a squad car after a very traumatic rape: "Coming from West Clare to Cork is a very long journey - particularly when they are in the back of a squad car and all they want is to have a shower.

"It is important to treat victims sympathetically in the initial stages. Apart from everything else, if they are treated shoddily they may be deterred from going through the legal process and giving a statement. They have to trust the system," Ms Wallace said.

Irish College of General Practitioners' spokeswoman Dr Mary Favier, who was involved in setting up the Cork centre at the South Infirmary, said GPs are not specifically trained to deal with rape victims: "It is specialised work. It is a crime scene and then you have to stand up in court 18 months later. You've to get everything right in the forensic exam, down to the spelling of the victim's name on the labels, or the case will be thrown out."

GPs may only be called for one forensic exam every 10 years. "I would not dream of undertaking any medical procedure that I had not done for a decade you would want to be doing one every week," Dr Favier said.

Specially-trained gynaecologists staff the Cork sexual assault treatment centre, which incorporates examination and interview rooms. Victims can have a shower and change into clean, spare clothes after being examined.