Physicians for Human Rights

Published purpose

The project aims to strengthen the capacities of Iraqi medical, legal, and law enforcement professionals and institutions to document incidents of sexual and gender-based violence for evidentiary purposes and to improve processes in accordance with international standards and best practices. The project activities include: (1) developing a standardized form for the forensic documentation of sexual violence and torture; (2) conducting advocacy meetings with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Interior, Supreme Judicial Council, and Ministry of Finance to get the form endorsed; (3) training clinicians and non-clinicians at the Medical-Legal Directorate (MLD) on forensic documentation of sexual and gender-based violence; and (4) training judges working in anti-terrorism courts and the juvenile justice system on obtaining informed consent, interviewing skills, the importance of forensic documentation of physical and psychological evidence, report writing, and vicarious trauma.