The Role of Forensic Medicine in Investigating Sexual Violence Crimes

As part of the “Providing Legal Services to Survivors of Sexual Violence Crimes” project, the Investigator Organization for Supporting the Rule of Law and Democracy (IOL), in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and with financial support from the United Kingdom Government (UK Aid), organized a specialized two-day training course in Erbil on 17–18 January 2025, entitled “The Role of Forensic Medicine in Investigating Sexual Violence Crimes.”
The training brought together 20 judicial investigators, assistant judicial investigators, and lawyers, with the aim of strengthening their legal and technical knowledge in investigating sexual violence crimes and enhancing their capacity to deal with forensic medical evidence.
The course was delivered by Dr. Barzan Mohammed Ali Faraj, Director of the Forensic Medicine Institute in Sulaymaniyah. The sessions covered the history and development of forensic medicine in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, the essential role of forensic medicine in investigating sexual violence crimes, methods of collecting forensic medical evidence, and the documentation and assessment of physical injuries in accordance with legal and scientific standards to support criminal investigations and judicial proceedings.