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Domestic and sexual violence in Australia: Current evidence and the potential role of forensic science
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Domestic and sexual violence in Australia: Current evidence and the potential role of forensic science

Bronte Hall and Brendan Chapman
Forensic science international. Synergy, Vol.12, 100665
2026
PMID: 41736924
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Published1.17 MBDownloadView
CC BY-NC-ND V4.0 Open Access

Abstract

Legal Medicine Life Sciences & Biomedicine Medicine, Legal Science & Technology
Violence perpetrated against women in Australia is being referred to as at crisis point. The National Plan for Violence Against Women and Children outlines the national collaborative approach to addressing this issue. While paramount to the successful apprehension of domestic and sexual violence perpetrators, forensic science escapes specific consideration in the National Plan. Only a single reference to the word "forensic" is contained in the 144page document- "Ensure victim-survivors have access to timely forensic examinations". Forensic science must play a larger role in responding to increasing family, domestic, and sexual violence (FDSV). In using the National Plan as a foundation, this review collates available Australian data to provide commentary and summarise the experiences of victim-survivors, the current legislative climate, and future directions that may address this challenge. Much of the literature captures FDSV, but for this research, only domestic, otherwise referred to as intimate partner violence (IPV), and sexual violence (SV) will be commented on, owing to their close association with forensic science as a judicial tool.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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