**8. The issue of forensic nursing in Turkey**

The medical examination and evidence collection is generally assisted by specially trained nurses in the USA, Canada, and some of the European countries [37–39]. We do not have specially trained sexual assault examiner nurses (forensic nurses) in Turkey. The concept of forensic nursing is present only at an academic level, and the practicing nurses are not aware of how they can collect physical and biological evidence [40, 41]. However, even doctors are not well trained on the issue, and they do not know how to collect, preserve, and transfer the evidence. They certainly lack the information and practice of being sensitive and sympathetic once they are dealing with traumatized patients not only physically but also psychologically [42]. Another obstacle in the proper and effective collection is the absence of standardized sexual assault evidence collection kits and the lack of a consensus between laboratories on DNA identification procedures [43, 44].
