Evidence in sexual violence investigations

Evidence is information and items collected by the police to help prove that the crime was committed by the accused person.

Types of evidence can vary depending on the nature of the crime. Physical evidence for sexual violence matters can include:

• Physical swabs from your body (these are usually called Forensic Medical Examinations)
• The clothes you were wearing
• Samples from items or surfaces that the accused person may have touched. 

Physical evidence is usually collected soon after the assault has happened. You can find more information about what to do after a sexual assault, by visiting our What to do if you have just been sexually assaulted page.

Digital evidence can include things like:

• Text messages
• Phone call logs
• CCTV or surveillance footage.

Sometimes police may ask for your consent to download information from a device, like text messages or call logs. You have the choice to say yes or no to this.

If you have experienced sexual violence or harm using technology (e.g. text messages, social media apps, voicemails, intimate images) and you are thinking about reporting to police, collecting evidence can help the investigation. When taking screenshots or saving evidence such as messages or photos, it can help if you include thing like URLs, names of social media accounts, Bitmojis or any personalised avatars and time and dates of communication. To find out more about technology-facilitated abuse, what evidence to collect and how to collect it, visit the E-Safety Commissioner’s website.

Other types of evidence that the police might gather are:

• Statements from and recording of conversations with witnesses
• Interview with the accused person
• Photographs, including photos of injuries or other evidence. 

What happens to the evidence?

Police keep the evidence until the matter has finished in court, including if there are any appeal processes.
It’s possible that forensic examination evidence can be tested or scientifically examined further. You can find more information about Forensic Medical Examinations on our FME page .or by visiting the Queensland Health website.