Examining Sexual Assault Investigations

This chapter focuses on a sexual assault investigation as it provides a general overview of a common criminal investigation. While no two investigations are the same, using a sexual assault investigation as a general example highlights the numerous stakeholders involved in the investigation process and the ethical issues at various decision points. Additionally, sexual assault is a unique case type that incorporates healthcare staff into the collection of vital evidence (Burgess AM, Carretta CM. Rape and its impact on the victim. In Practical aspects of rape investigation, 1–18. CRC Press, 2016). This type of investigation provides a nice example to analyze and apply practices from bioethics, specifically healthcare ethics.