David Wells
The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM)

Violence has an impact on all communities, affects all of our lives and all stages of life. Violence in its various forms is universally pervasive and destructive; impinging on the happiness health and life of all countries. Increasingly, violence has been viewed and accepted as an inevitable consequence of human life. Death and serious injuries are the public presence of violence but even these are overshadowed by the non-injury health consequence.

As forensic practitioners we are regularly exposed to the outcomes of violence. We are therefore well-placed to contribute to public debate and to the development of solutions particularly through data collection and research into the causes and consequences of violence.

David Wells is head of Clinical Forensic Medicine at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and Honorary Associate Professor in the Departments of Forensic Medicine and Paediatrics at Monash University. He holds Honorary Physician appointments at the Royal Children's Hospital, Royal Women's Hospital and Monash Medical Centre.

He is an Examiner in Medical Jurisprudence for the Society of Apothecaries of London, Member of the Advisory Panel - National Institute of Forensic Science and Member of the International Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine.

His recent work has been with the World Health Organisation in Geneva and with Amnesty International in Africa, assisting in the establishment of medico-legal services for victims of sexual violence in developing countries.