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Weak medical report reason sexual violence victims don’t get justice — Experts

By Gbenga Salau
04 December 2022   |   3:32 am
The Administrator-General and Public Trustee, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Omotola Rotimi, has said that many cases of domestic and sexual violence have been thrown out of court because of watery medical reports by health workers.

The Administrator-General and Public Trustee, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Omotola Rotimi, has said that many cases of domestic and sexual violence have been thrown out of court because of watery medical reports by health workers. She said this during a two-day training for health workers in public institutions in Lagos.

In a statement, yesterday, Rotimi said that health workers and caregivers could assistthe court in forming opinions after examining the survivor.

He said: “Their report will assist the court to form opinion, if the accused is guilty or not, whether a crime has been committed or not. We have found that many times, though a doctor might have given a report, such report is watery. As a result, the court cannot make use of the report and the case is thrown out because of poor investigation, and examination of the survivor by health workers.”

Also, the Reproductive Health Coordinator, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Victoria Omoera, maintained that detailed medical report by health workers is critical to survivors getting justice in court. She added that a report that is not detailed “cannot be used in court as appropriate evidence.”

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