About the Multidisciplinary Sexual Violence Glossary
The Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCOE) in collaboration with the Center for Nursing Excellence International (CFNEI) has developed a sexual violence online glossary for medical, law enforcement, and legal professionals.
Effective communication among interdisciplinary professionals is essential. Unfortunately, these professionals speak very different professional languages using terminology from the legal, medical and forensic science disciplines, sometimes interchangeably. To develop this glossary, CFNEI engaged with multidisciplinary subject matter experts who contributed to developing the terms list, writing associated definitions, and reviewing the multidisciplinary terminology/definitions. A consensus model was used to clarify ambiguous terms or terms with opposing definitions found in the literature and/or reference materials. This project served to create a resource that can be used to help bridge language related communication gaps and potential miscommunication associated with discipline specific terminology.
Currently, the glossary contains over 3400 terms and over 340 acronyms, synonyms, and variations.
The FTCOE and CFNEI will continue to update the glossary, import terms into the searchable index, and will ensured that definitions are compliant with the FBI quality assurance standards to maintain consistency in federal documents. The Multidisciplinary Sexual Violence Glossary is intended to be living document in support of the entire community. Everyone is invited to submit terms they would like to see included, so take a moment to do so at the bottom of the glossary webpage. The glossary can be accessed through the FTCOE and CFNEI websites, and soon through a mobile application.
