Projects

Evidently Rape (2020-)

Medical, legal and lay understandings of physical evidence in rape cases (Evidently Rape) is a cross-disciplinary, convergence environment headed by professor May-Len Skilbrei. We will examine how physical evidence matters and can matter in how the crime of rape is met by medical and criminal justice institutions in Norway. The project builds on the starting assumption that the production of medical and legal facts is co-constitutive. Law and policing practices influence what physical evidence is harvested for testing and how it is harvested; medical expertise and methodologies then transform evidence into medical and forensic facts to be applied in the investigation and prosecution of crime.

My subproject, From medical facts to legal evidence, addresses how medical facts and forensic evidence are written and spoken for in pre-trial stages of the criminal justice process in rape and sexual assault cases in Norway. By addressing the sociology of knowledge pertaining to forensic evidence in the criminal justice system From medical facts to legal evidence aims to help the translation of evidence/knowledge from the medical to the legal knowledge tradition.

Torture rehabilitation in the welfare state (2020-)

Collaborative research designed to map, assess, analyse, and theorize the availability, quality and reach of social and medical rehabilitation assistance and services for torture victims with emphasis on first line and specialist health services in Norway. Combination of service mapping, academic research, and supervised student projects – spanning legal, human rights, criminological, social work and medical disciplines.