Impact of Trauma on Adult Sexual Assault Victims: What the Criminal Justice System Needs to Know

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lori Haskell ◽  
Melanie Randall
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Adult Sexual Assault ◽  
Assault Victims

scholarly journals Sexual Assault Case Processing: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassia Spohn
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Status ◽  
Women And Girls ◽  
Assault Victims ◽  
Sexual Assault Case

One of the goals of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women is to end violence against women and girls in all countries. An important component of this goal is ensuring that all crimes of violence against women and girls are taken seriously by the criminal justice system and that police, prosecutors, judges and jurors respond appropriately. However, research detailing how cases of sexual assault proceed in the criminal justice system reveals that this goal remains elusive, both in the United States and elsewhere. The rape reform movement ushered in changes to traditional rape law that were designed to encourage victims to report to the police and to remove barriers to arrest and successful prosecution. However, four decades after this reform, victims are still reluctant to report sexual assaults to the police, and arrest, prosecution and conviction rates for sexual assault cases are shockingly low. Reversing these trends will require policy changes that are designed to counteract the stereotypes and myths underpinning sexual assault and sexual assault victims.

Cold or Caring? Adolescent Sexual Assault Victims’ Perceptions of Their Interactions With the Police

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 636-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan R. Greeson ◽  
Rebecca Campbell ◽  
Giannina Fehler-Cabral
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Assault Victims ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Adolescent Victims

One-third of sexual assault cases that are reported to the police involve adolescent victims (Snyder, 2000), yet little is known about adolescent victims’ interactions with law enforcement. Through semistructured interviews with 20 adolescent sexual assault victims, this study sought to understand—from the perspectives of the adolescents—how the police interacted with them on an interpersonal level and the impact this had on the adolescents’ emotional well-being and engagement in the criminal justice system. Findings revealed that when the police engaged in behaviors that the victims perceived as caring, compassionate, and personable (vs. behaviors that were perceived as uncaring, insensitive, and intimidating), there was a positive impact on victims’ emotional well-being and criminal justice system engagement. Implications for improving adolescents’ help-seeking experiences are discussed.

scholarly journals (DE)CONSTRUCTING THE “PERFECT RAPE VICTIM”: AN ANALYSIS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND SURVIVOR DISCOURSES IN THE CANADIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanshika Dhawan ◽  
Marty Fink
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Rape Myths ◽  
Attrition Rates ◽  
Sexual Assault Survivors ◽  
Spousal Rape ◽  
Definition Of

The Canadian criminal justice system has seen many progressive changes to the way sexual assault cases are investigated and prosecuted over the past several decades. From the acknowledgement of spousal rape to the introduction of rape shield provisions, the law has seemingly changed to broaden the definition of what is considered a sexual assault. However, sexually-based offences are still vastly underreported and have the lowest attrition rates of indictable offences. Larger societal discourses around sexual assault and survivor-hood consist largely of rape myths, such as the idea that “real rape” only occurs when an “undeserving” woman is sexually assaulted by a “stranger in the dark.” These discourses permeate the Canadian criminal justice system, negatively influencing the experience of survivors who do not fit the narrow mould “real rape.” Drawing from Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis and Stuart Hall’s Discursive Approach, this Major Research Paper traces the effects of these discourses on constructions of sexual assault and survivor-hood in the legal system. Through a theoretical analysis of existing literature on the experiences of sexual assault survivors, this paper also examines the ways in which the language we use to describe sexual assault serves to cement rape myths and invalidate survivor experiences in every stage of the Canadian criminal justice system.

The Legal Enforcement of Integrity

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-62
Author(s):  
Stuart P. Green
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Political System ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
Bodily Integrity ◽  
Moral Concepts ◽  
Legal Enforcement ◽  
The Law

Talk of “integrity” is ubiquitous in law and legal discourse: Protecting the integrity of our political system has been cited as a basis for anti-corruption laws; preserving the integrity of the legal profession as a principle underlying the rules of lawyer ethics; ensuring integrity in policing and in the wider criminal justice system as a justification for excluding evidence obtained in violation of the Constitution; and protecting bodily integrity as a potential goal for the law of rape and sexual assault. This chapter examines what integrity means in each of these contexts, what these uses have in common, and whether thinking about these various rules and doctrines in terms of integrity rather than other moral concepts leads to any practical difference in outcome. It also asks what the examination of integrity in the law can tell us about the concept of integrity in other contexts.

A Preliminary Assessment of Police Officers' Knowledge and Perceptions of Persons With Disabilities

2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott J. Modell ◽  
Suzanna Mak
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Police Officer ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Crime Victims ◽  
Preliminary Assessment ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Number Of Factors

Abstract Individuals with developmental disabilities are 4 to 10 times more likely to become crime victims than individuals without disabilities (D. Sobsey, D. Wells, R. Lucardie, & S. Mansell, 1995). Victimization rates for persons with disabilities is highest for sexual assault (more than 10 times as high) and robbery (more than 12 times as high). There are a number of factors related to individuals' with disabilities susceptibility to interactions with the criminal justice system. In addition to these factors, many significant barriers exist, both real and perceived, that limit investigation and prosecution of these cases. How police officers perceive and understand disability play significant roles in how these cases develop and evolve. The purpose of this study was to assess police officer knowledge and perceptions of persons with disabilities.

scholarly journals Women, violent crime and criminal justice in Georgian Wales

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHERINE D. WATSON
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Rape Victims ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Law

This article examines encounters of women with the criminal justice system in Wales during the century before the Courts of Great Sessions were abolished in 1830. Drawing on evidence from cases of sexual assault and homicide, it argues that women who killed were rarely convicted or punished harshly. A gendered discretion of sorts also acted against rape victims, as trials never resulted in conviction. Using violence as a lens, the paper reveals a distinctively Welsh approach to criminal justice, and offers quantitative evidence on which further comparative studies of the history of law and crime in England and Wales may be based.

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