WOMEN ON FRONT FOOT IN BOOMING OF FORENSIC SCIENCE (An international overview)

WOMEN ON FRONT FOOT IN BOOMING OF FORENSIC SCIENCE (An international overview)

This is Not a feminist perspective. Shocked?

Don't be, sorry boys we are not on equal ground in the field of forensics and this inequality has nothing to do with the rights provided by law.

Recently an article says that women are at forefront in booming of forensic field and I can support this statement with evidence.

Technological progress had a profound impact on the development of forensic analysis- from DNA typing to retinal scanning, from chemistry to physics; from genetics to entomology; from ballistics to botany development of any sort in these feild have aided somehow in forensic investigations (Forensic to other discipline: Kabhi Kabhi Lagta hai Apun hi Bhagwan hai).

Being multi-disciplinary subject, forensic involve a wide number of scientists specializing in different disciplines and to cover continuous demand for forensic services, scientists are required to process a large number of samples producing faster results at lower costs. To demonstrate professional qualification and to maintain high professional standards, certification in forensic science is required, and especially in public institutions.

According to Eurostat, in 2017, around 24.1 million women with a university-level education are employed as professionals and technicians. In five European Countries, the majority of scientists and engineers are women: Lithuania (57% female), Bulgaria and Latvia (both 53%), Portugal (51%) and Denmark (50%). On the flipside, women make up less than one third in Germany (33), Finland (29%), Hungary and Luxembourg (both 25%).

According to the International Bureau of Education (UNESCO IBE), in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, women represent only 33% and 18% of researchers. Malaysia differs from other areas because more than 50% of the students in higher education programs for technology are women.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, women represent 45% of scientific researchers with 36% in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines.

These data are particularly impressive and interesting considering that Latin America has one of the highest level of gender-based sexual violence in the world.

Interestingly, between all STEM fields, forensic science is the only one that has a majority in female graduates (Dawley et al., 2014)

As an occupation, being a forensic scientist is hard, requires a high specialization, involves many responsibilities and many working hours per week (an average 42 hour week). Yet, it is a really attractive career; in fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2014 and 2024, employment in forensic science will increase around 27%. In particular forensic science seems a very exciting career for women, as evidenced by the fact that women numerically exceed men in both undergraduate and graduate forensic science programs. (A. Barbaro 2019)

In 2015 Jenifer Smith, retired FBI special agent, and professor of forensic science at the Penn State University reported: “Currently 74% of the students in our forensic science program are young women, and they continue to fill the ranks of various laboratories”. 

An Authors reported that “when female professors were seen as positive role models, women automatically identified with science and stereotyped science as more feminine than masculine.” (Young et al., 2013)

Although we can not deny the fact that in India these statistics can be quite different. The change scenario here could be because of less job opportunity in this field in India especially for pure forensic science students and both males and female find their career insecure in this field. But hopefully the situation is turning as Government is taking some significant steps in promoting forensics in India and we might see a sudden boom in this field in couple of months or so.  

Why women are domination in this field ?

Well answer to this question is provided by various researchers.

• “Women are also more detail oriented, which comes in handy when matching up fingerprints or comparing striations on bullets.” (D. Potter 2018)
• “Women prefer to work with organic and living things while men choose to work with the inorganic materials.” (M. Houck 2009)
• Women are dominating forensics because there are role models, early exposure and it is suited to women’s interests (M. Blum 2017)
• Another important aspect of Women in Forensics is their Maternal Instinct and level of maturity.” (House, 2019, personal communication)

List of some Influential women in forensic science

• Frances Glessner Lee- had a great influence in developing forensic science in USA and she is now regarded as “the godmother of forensic science” She revolutionized police work and was the most famous criminologist of her time.
• Clea Koff- is famous for her great contribution to the identification of victims from Bosnia, Kosovo, Croatia and for Rwanda Genocide. Because of this, she is known as the “bone woman”, based upon the title of her book.
• Laura Pettler- is one of the world’s most expert in crime scene staging and domestic violence homicide.
• Jan Carla- Garavaglia is a famous medical examiner in USA who was the protagonist of a reality TV show “Dr. G.” where she shared the surprising results of her investigations.
• Hafsa Salameh- is the first Palestinian woman to work in forensics at the National Center for Forensic Medicine (NCFM) created in Palestine in 2017. She tries to promote the confidence of women towards forensic services and to encourage women to study forensic science.
• Kizzie Shako- is the only female police surgeon in Kenya and she is also the founder and director of VunjaKimya Foundation, an association against sexual assault and child abuse.
• Porntip Rojanasunan- is the Director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice in Bangkok. She firstly introduced DNA typing in Thailand and as a pathologist actively contributed to the identification of Tsunami victims.
• Marcella Farinelli Fierro- former Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia and consultant for the National Crime Information Center inspired “Kay Scarpetta,” the protagonist of Patricia Cornwell crime novels.
• Kathy Reichs- is a forensic anthropologist and professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

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DISCLAIMER- The content in this blog is taken from reliable sources, the facts and information presented belongs to the researcher Anna Barbaro.

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