The Technoscientific Witness of Rape: Contentious Histories of Law, Feminism, and Forensic Science - Hardcover

Andrea Quinlan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1487500815 ISBN 13: 9781487500818

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2017

Synopsis

In 1984, the Sexual Assault Evidence Kit (SAEK) was dubbed "Ontario's most successful rapist trap." Since then, the kit has become the key source of evidence in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault as well as a symbol of victims' improved access to care and justice. Unfortunately, the SAEK has failed to live up to these promises.

The Technoscientific Witness of Rape is the first book to chart the thirty year history of the sexual assault evidence kit and its role in a criminal justice system that re-victimizes many assault victims in their quest for medical treatment and justice. Drawing on actor-network theory and feminist technology studies, Andrea Quinlan combs through sixty-two interviews with police, nurses, scientists, and lawyers, as well as archival records and legal cases to trace changes in sexual assault forensics, law, advocacy, and anti-violence activism in Ontario. Through this history Quinlan bravely and provocatively argues that the SAEK reflects and reinforces the criminal justice system's distrust of sexual assault victims.

About this title

About the Author

Andrea Quinlan is an assistant professor in the Department of Gender and Women's Studies at Trent University.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1487500815
• ISBN 13: 9781487500818
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240