Forensic Science Organization to Draft Standards for Sexual Assault Examinations

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) sent this bulletin at 07/20/2021 12:44 PM EDT
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Forensic Science Organization to Draft Standards for Sexual Assault Examinations

A white cardboard box with blue lettering contains a sexual assault kit.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced today that the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC), which is administered by NIST, will launch a new subcommittee that will draft standards for collecting physical evidence from victims of sexual assault. The goal of the new standards will be to improve the quality of care for victims and help ensure that evidence is properly collected and preserved until a crime lab can analyze it. OSAC is seeking experts to serve on the new forensic nursing subcommittee, named for the professional caregivers who conduct many sexual assault examinations.

OSAC, which is part of NIST’s larger Forensic Science Program, works to accelerate the development and adoption of high-quality, technically sound standards for forensic science.

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