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CNN
The U.S. successfully used the threat of its veto power on the UN Security Council to demand significant changes to a resolution on sexual violence.
The altered resolution passed following major changes granted by Germany in the face of demands from the U.S., sources told CNN.
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Senators Probe Department of Defense for Failures Relating to Sexual Assault Cases
On April 11, 2019, U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) probed the Department of Defense for apparent failure to ask victims of sexual assault if they would prefer their case to be tried in a civilian or military court. Such notifications are required by law, but a recent inspector general report found a widespread lack of compliance and failure to record the victim's preference. Read more.
Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization - Update
As reported by Vox, on April 4, 2019 the House of Representatives approved its version of a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (H.R.1585) by a vote of 263-158. VAWA is the United States' landmark legislation funding programs meant to prevent and prosecute abuse against victims. It did so in the face of staunch opposition from the National Rifle Association, which argued that a new provision in the bill barring dating partners convicted of abuse and stalking from owning firearms went too far. Read more.
See a section-by-section view of the VAWA 2019 legislation.
Other Legislative News
North Carolina proposes legislation to close loopholes
Tennessee house passes bill to help schools take care of students with early childhood trauma
Texas lawmakers have filed nearly 100 bills focused on sex offenses this year
Virginia steadily wiping out backlog
Washington bill to eliminate backlog signed into law
Each year, the Association seeks to identify and recognize those individuals who have contributed significantly to the advancement of forensic nursing and to the growth and success of International Association of Forensic Nurses. Please consider nominating individuals you know who deserve recognition.

Were you last SANE-A® or SANE-P® certified in 2016? This is your year to renew! Your CE accrual start date is now tailored to YOU - based on the date you last certified. See the renewal page for details and apply online. Save $100 when your applications is received by April 30, 2019.
These webinars are now available in IAFN’s Online Learning Center with free Contact Hours for members:
- SAFEta: DNA Evidence Collection in Groping Sexual Assault Cases
- Medical Forensic Evaluation of Asylum Seekers: (3) Physical Exam and Utilizing the Istanbul Protocol
- Research 101: Stories from the Experts
IAFN is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Demystifying Care of Patients with Mental Illness Following a Sexual Assault
June 10, 2019; 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. Eastern
Recent research suggests that up to 40 percent of patients who present for care following a sexual assault have some history of mental illness. But there has been limited academic work that examines unique considerations that may arise when caring for this patient population. How do we best provide medical care and forensic services for patients with mental illness in the acute setting following a reported sexual assault? How do we determine when it is, and is not, appropriate to offer a sexual assault medical forensic exam (SAMFE)? In this webinar, an interdisciplinary panel of SANEs and psychiatrists will highlight some of the challenges faced and questions that may arise. Register.
Identifying and Protecting Campus Survivors' Privacy Rights: Schools, SANEs and Student Survivors
May 16, 2019; 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. Eastern
Students who are sexually assaulted face some unique issues in terms of privacy. Healthcare providers should recognize those privacy issues and the applicability to the care they provide to the patient at the time of the exam and in any proceedings that follow in criminal, civil or administrative hearings. The SANE should be aware of the relevant laws that impact patient privacy and campus laws. During this webinar we will discuss common privacy issues for campus survivors and the potential impact this can have when care is delivered in different settings. Register.
IAFN is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Join IAFN’s SAFEta project at a FREE, one-day training on how to recognize, identify, screen for, and respond to human trafficking in a trauma-informed way on Thursday, May 30, 2019 in Centennial, CO. The training is intended for SANE, Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners (SAFE), or forensic nurse examiners or other health care providers who work with trafficking patients.
Join IAFN in Cleveland, OH on May 10, 2019 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for this course which includes full access to the new online IAFN Pediatric Strangulation Case Review and Assessment Program.
This course will offer Nursing Contact Hours and CME AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.
The Postgraduate Institute for Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 6.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ and the enduring activity for 20 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The Southern California chapter’s spring training will be held on April 27, 2019 in Escondido.
The New York chapter’s 2019 conference will be held May 9-10, 2019 in Saratoga Springs.
The Wisconsin chapter’s annual conference will be held May 13-15, 2019 in La Crosse.
The Virginia chapter is hosting their annual conference May 15-17, 2019 in Bedford.
The North Carolina chapter is hosting a conference on May 20, 2019 in Raleigh.
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Baltimore Sun
Baltimore County police destroyed more than twice as many rape kits over a six-year period as officials reported — 521 in total — according to new records obtained by The Baltimore Sun.
In 2016, police reported destroying 231 rape kits from 2010 to 2015. But a list of destroyed evidence obtained through public records requests showed that hundreds more had been destroyed.
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Nature
In the late 1990s, as an anthropology PhD student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Ann Ross travelled to Bosnia to help identify casualties of war. In her current role as head of the Human Identification and Forensic Analysis Laboratory at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, she does much the same for the people of her state. Her lab — a refurbished engineering space measuring about 90 square metres — has a contract with the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which means that when a human skeleton is recovered, it is her job to determine what happened.
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Doctors Without Borders
Once famous as a resort city, Acapulco, Mexico, now has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Violence here touches all aspects of life, both public and private. Across the city, murders, kidnappings, extortion, shootings, rapes, and sexual assaults happen every day. In response, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières runs a psychosocial and mental health care project to help survivors of sexual violence — some of Acapulco’s most vulnerable people.
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Unniversity of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio via EurekAlert!
Tragically, one in every three American women will experience intimate partner violence during her lifetime. Victims suffer not only physical injuries but are at increased risk of mental disorders.
This violence is often unpredictable, which may be its worst trait. Not knowing what will come next is sometimes a stronger predictor of a woman's health outcomes than violence frequency and severity, UT Health San Antonio research suggests.
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Becker's Hospital Review
While more than 73 percent of nurses care about the success of their hospital, only 57.1 percent feel a sense of ownership about their jobs, according to a survey from healthcare research and consultancy firm PRC.
The survey polled 1,923 registered nurses from 37 hospitals.
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ABC News
An expert who has been working with the Boy Scouts revealed that there may have been as many as 7,819 allegedly sexually abusive troop leaders and volunteers in the storied organization, according to newly released court documents.
More than 7,800 individuals allegedly abused 12,254 victims, according to the court testimony.
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Medpage Today
Therapy with a single broadly neutralizing antibody maintained virologic suppression in people living with HIV up to 16 weeks following discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy, a small, non-randomized trial found.
Of the 29 enrolled participants, none experienced a viral rebound, though eight had "intermittent viral blips," reported Chang-Yi Wang, PhD, of United Biomedical in Hauppauge, N.Y., and colleagues, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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The Washington Post
With the illness marching through his body and his time running low, Arthur Rudy Martinez turned himself in.
It was April 2014. Twenty years earlier, Martinez had escaped from a Washington state prison where he was serving a life sentence for robbery and rape convictions. Running from authorities, Martinez headed south, where he slipped into an alias and lived under the radar around Fresno, CA.
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