Abstract
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.
Highlights
In 1975, Susan Brownmiller wrote a detailed and sobering account of rape—about its origins, the myths surrounding it and about how laws and practices would made it likely that only a few of those who committed this crime of violence would be held accountable
Criticisms such as these led to a rape reform movement that emerged in the 1970s and that quickly became a key item on the feminist agenda in the United States (US) (Caringella 2009; Horney and Spohn 1991; Marsh, Geist and Caplan 1982; Spohn and Horney 1992), Canada (Johnson 2012; Roberts, Grossman and Gebotys 1996), the United Kingdom (UK) (Hinchliffe 2000; Temkin 2000) and other countries (Frank, Hardinge and Wosick-Correa 2009)
The authors of this study examined changes in the number of cases reported to the police before and after the reforms in 40 different countries, finding that reports increased by 75 per cent during the reform periods
Summary
In 1975, Susan Brownmiller wrote a detailed and sobering account of rape—about its origins, the myths surrounding it and about how laws and practices would made it likely that only a few of those who committed this crime of violence would be held accountable She charged that those who were held accountable would not be representative of the many who engaged in this type of criminal behaviour. Estrich (1987) asserted that the most serious dispositions were reserved for the atypical aggravated stranger rapes These two feminist critics—among many others—argued that under traditional rape law, it was often the victim who was placed on trial (Bohmer 1974; Field and Bienen1980; Holmstrom and Burgess 1978; Kalven and Zeisel 1966; LaFree 1981, 1989; Reskin and Visher 1986)
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