“With the Disruption to Your Family Life, It’s More A Vocation than A Job”: Favours and Family in the Forensic Nurse Examination of Sexual Assault Survivors

For those involved in the management of the forensic intervention following a rape assault, the attendance of a survivor is unpredictable. Rotas are produced to attempt control; however, as the forensic intervention is an example of bodywork (determined by body time), it necessarily poses a challenge to clock time. To solve this dilemma, nurses offer “favours” (Cohen, 2010) to colleagues in the form of flexibility over shifts. Nurses are also flexible with the end of their shifts in order to provide survivors with a sense of control over their bodies. While these favours necessarily problematise nurses’ non-work commitments, it is exactly these familial/maternal responsibilities which provide them with the empathy and caring skills necessary to carry out their work. Based upon a qualitative, international comparative study, this paper will explore the favours nurses offer and the complex ways they manage the relationship between their family responsibilities and forensic work.