National Guidelines on Management of Sexual Violence in Kenya

3. Exhibit Management and Preservation of Evidence
3.1 Exhibit Management
The following practices must be followed when handling an exhibit:
• Protect the exhibit from weather and contamination;
• Use clean instruments and containers;
• Wear gloves and the protective gear when appropriate;
• Package, transport and store exhibit safely and securely;
• Take special care with fragile and perishable exhibits;
• Call on an expert if you lack adequate training to handle a particular type
of exhibit.
3.2 Collection and Handling of Specimen
When collecting specimen for forensic analysis, the following principles should be
strictly adhered to:
Avoid contamination: Ensure that specimens are not contaminated by other materials.
Store each exhibit separately. Wear gloves at all times for your own protection and
also to ensure that the exhibit is not contaminated.
Collect early: Try to collect forensic specimens as soon as possible. The likelihood of
collecting evidentiary material decreases with the passing of time. Ideally, specimens
should be collected within 24 hours of the assault; after 72 hours, yields are reduced
considerably. Collect the same before requiring the victim to bathe.
Handle appropriately: Ensure that specimens are packed, stored and transported
correctly. As a general rule, some of the fluids (e.g. urine) should be refrigerated;
anything else should be kept dry. In some instances, blood can be dried on gauze and
stored as such. Biological evidence material (e.g. body fluids, soiled clothes) should
be packaged in paper envelopes or bags after drying, avoiding plastic bags.
Label accurately: All specimens must be clearly labelled with the survivor’s name and
date of birth, the health worker’s name, the type of specimen, and the date and time
of collection.
Ensure security: Specimens should be packed to ensure that they are secure and
tamper proof. Only authorised people should be entrusted with specimens.
Maintain continuity: Once a specimen has been collected, its subsequent handling
should be recorded. Details of the transfer of the specimen between individuals
should also be recorded. An exhibit register should be maintained at each facility. It
is not a good practice for the survivor to move any samples taken from them from one
facility to another for any analysis.
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