The Clinical-Forensic Network of Styria as a pilot project: findings of the accompanying socio-scientific study.

Abstract

The clinical-forensic documentation of domestic violence and sexual offences should preferably be done shortly after the incident both under standardized and professional conditions in order to secure items of evidence for any legal proceedings in the best possible way. For this purpose, Austria's first low-threshold clinical forensic care unit was founded in 2008 in Graz. The resulting model project "Clinical-Forensic Network of Styria" (,,Klinisch-forensisches Netzwerk Steiermark") was developed to offer Styria-wide low-threshold facilities for forensic examinations, legally admissible documentation and securing of evidence. The need to pursue and extend this interdisciplinary network is obvious; this project may have a role model effect on the establishment of clinical-forensic networks in other federal states of Austria. In this regard, a high potential and an integrative effect on inter- and transdisciplinary network building are attributed to forensic medicine.