Alleged Victim Research Articles

Young Adults’ Inferences Surrounding an Alleged Sexual Assault

A 2 (dress) × 2 (victim alcohol use) × 2 (perpetrator alcohol use) between subjects factorial design was used to investigate the influence of dress, alcohol use, and gender of participants on inferences made by college students ( N = 430) about an alleged victim and perpetrator of a sexual assault. Whether being schematic on appearance moderated the influence of dress was also tested. Dress of the victim and alcohol use significantly influenced inferences of the alleged victim and the perpetrator. There was an interaction effect for dress, alcohol use, and gender on inferences concerning the perpetrator. Wearing body-revealing dress and alcohol use by the alleged victim were interpreted as a sign of the sexual interest of the victim. Alcohol use by the alleged perpetrator influenced inferences concerning the believability of his statements. Being schematic on appearance did not appear to moderate the influence of dress on participants' perceptions.

Special Issue on Cyberharassment Investigation: Advances and Trends

Empirical and anecdotal evidence indicates that cyberharassment is more prevalent as the use of social media becomes increasingly widespread, making geography and physical proximity irrelevant. Cyberharassment can take different forms (e.g., cyberbullying, cyberstalking, cybertrolling), and be motivated by the objectives of inflicting distress, exercising control, impersonation, and defamation. Little is currently known about the modus operandi of offenders and their psychological characteristics. Investigation of these behaviours is particularly challenging because it involves digital evidence distributed across the devices of both alleged offenders and victims, as well as online service providers, sometimes over an extended period of time. This special issue aims to improve understanding of cyberharassment from a multidisciplinary perspective in order to further develop theoretical knowledge and investigative practice.

Is There Need for Danger to Health (Physical/Mental) Life Ground of MTP Beyond Permissible Limit in Exceptional Cases?

Abortion is an issue overshadowed and shrugged with glaring questions of morality, infanticide, suicide, ethics, religious beliefs and women's rights. To what amplitude, abortion should be permitted, encouraged, restricted or repressed is a social issue that has effectively divided theologians, philosophers, legislators and general mass. In a tragic incidence, the girl from district Sabarkantha, Gujarat was allegedly raped by a doctor. The girl's father had first moved to the Sessions Court seeking termination of pregnancy, saying she was in no position to take care of the child, but the court turned down her plea to terminate the pregnancy as she was past the 20th week. Later on, the Gujarat High Court had refused permission for abortion on 16 April 2015. The Supreme Court empathised with her plight saying ‘for no fault of her, she is suffering'and also ordered a DNAtest of the foetus. The Supreme Court came to the rescue of a minor rape victim, by ordering that the requisite surgery may be done if the gynaecologists and clinical psychologists permit it. In this case, mental health has been given due importance in taking decision about MTP involving a clinical psychologist as part of team of doctors examining alleged minor victim of rape. Similarly, other cases approached various high courts and other competent courts for remedy. It is right time to expedite the proposed amendments in the MTP Act, 1971, keeping in mind the plight of the rape survivor as a result of unwanted pregnancy and resulting harm to mental health which ultimately leading to danger to physical health and loss of life under suicidal impulse. Government should think and implement the compulsory sex education at school levels to create awareness, and early pregnancy can be detected and both maternal morbidity and mortality can be minimised.

Creating a Rebuttable Presumption of Profiling in Cases of Alleged Profiling of Muslims and Other Minorities in Canada

This paper addresses the subject of profiling in the Canadian context both in the narrower and broader senses. It discusses the close connection between wider discretionary power and profiling; the need and justification of rebuttable presumptions and its constitutional basis and discusses possible ways to end profiling in line with the contextual analysis of equality under s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The paper proposes for the shift in the burden of proof away from a victim of profiling to the law enforcement authority — in an alleged case of profiling — in the context of a search, or an arrest, of a Canadian Muslim or member of other minorities by police and other law enforcement authorities, and demonstrating that such search or arrest was not motivated by race, religion, or ethnicity. Thus creating a rebuttable presumption of profiling against the law enforcement authority when they use their discretionary power in search or arrest of a member of a racial, religious, or ethnic minority group. A member of Canadian law enforcement authority against whom profiling is alleged can rebut the presumption by proving that race, religion, or ethnicity was not a factor in using their discretionary power to stop, search, or detain the alleged victim of profiling.

The role of interpreters in adjudicating blame

This paper provides a linguistic analysis of the interpreter’s role in shaping the discursive reality of the Spanish-English bilingual courtroom. The paper examines the interpreter’s rendition of morphosyntactic features, specifically clitic pronouns and active-passive voice using excerpts from an actual jury trial. The aim of the study is to show how the interpreter’s treatment of linguistic features in exchanges between attorneys and witnesses may attribute agency to the defendant, and possibly suggest a relationship between the defendant and his alleged associates or victims that is not intended in the original utterance. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the field of courtroom interpreting by providing further insight into the relationship between an interpreter’s rendition of morphosyntactic features in attorney-witness exchanges and the attorney’s and witness’s ability to convey meaning and intent in a bilingual courtroom.

To prosecute or not to prosecute: Law students' judicial decisions in CSA cases.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) investigations are complicated and few cases are prosecuted. The aim of the present study was to investigate judicial decisions in CSA investigations. Seventy-one law students (42 females, 29 males) read a vignette depicting a CSA investigation, assessed the complainant's and the accused's credibility, and if the case should be prosecuted or not. The participants were assigned to one of four conditions defined by a 2 (evidence: high probative value vs. low probative value) × 2 (complainant demeanour: emotional vs. neutral) factorial design. Females assigned higher credibility to the complainant than did males and males assigned higher credibility to the accused than did females. Emotionality, but not evidential value, affected credibility judgements: Females believed less in the suspect when the child behaved in an emotional manner. Most participants (94.4%) thought that the case should be prosecuted, though only 73.2% believed that prosecution could be corroborated. Corroboration of prosecution was affected by evidential value, but not emotionality. The results indicate that the behavior of alleged crime victims might affect males and females differently, which in turn could lead to biased judicial decisions in CSA investigations.

The Effects of Obesity Myths on Perceptions of Sexual Assault Victims and Perpetrators' Credibility.

This study investigated the effects of obesity myths on blame attribution and the perceived credibility of both an alleged sexual assault victim and her perpetrator. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three sexual assault scenarios (in which either the victim or the perpetrator was described as obese and one in which both were described as obese) and responded to questions measuring the blame attribution and perceived the credibility of both individuals. A main effect of scenario was found on the perpetrator's credibility, indicating that participants rated the obese perpetrator as more credible when the victim was obese in comparison with when the victim was nonobese. However, no main effect of scenario was found on the victim's credibility and blame attribution, denoting that the victim's or perpetrator's weight did not influence participants' perceptions of the victim's credibility or blame attribution. The belief in obesity myths was the most significant predictor of victim blaming. However, differing patterns of the effects of obesity myths were found on the victim's credibility and the perpetrator's credibility. The belief in obesity myths was a significant predictor only when the victim was obese, whereas it was not a significant predictor in the scenarios where both the victim and the perpetrator were obese or the perpetrator was obese and the victim was nonobese. As for the perpetrator's credibility, the belief of obesity myths was not a significant predictor. Instead, the scenario was a significant predictor. Implications of obesity-myth endorsement in relation to sexual assault are discussed.

Physical abuse against elderly persons in institutional settings

IntroductionPeople over 65 years old are expected to be an increasing group exposed to abuse. Despite the well-studied intra-familial abuse, institutional abuse still lacks a proper understanding about its determinants and characteristics. AimThe general objective of this study is to provide a better knowledge about physical abuse against elderly people in institutional settings, in order to contribute to a timely detection, correct forensic diagnosis and prevention of these cases. MethodsA retrospective study was conducted through the analysis of forensic medical exams performed in the North Forensic Medical Services of Portugal, between 2004 and 2013, to elderly persons allegedly victims of physical abuse in an institutional setting by a caregiver (n = 59). ResultsAll the alleged cases occurred in nursing homes and in most of them (93.2%) the charges were against the institution and not focussing on a particular individual. The alleged victims were mainly female (79.7%), 75 years or older (75.9%), presenting a severe disability (55.9%) and 47.2% being unable to communicate. No injuries or post-traumatic pain were found in 55.9% of the cases to support the charge of physical abuse. Only in 6.8% of the cases were the forensic medical findings suggestive of physical abuse and, although this was not the object of the examination, 69.1% were considered suggestive or highly suggestive of neglect. A statistically significant association was found between the alleged victim's degree of disability and the occurrence of neglect (p = 0.003). ConclusionThe sample's size seems to be underestimated, probably due to lack of detection and/or reporting. The condition of these persons, mainly related with their inability to perceive abusive behaviours and/or to disclose them (mostly by physical and/or mental disability), as well as their reluctance to press charges due to fear of reprisal, affects significantly the detection and diagnosis of physical abuse, particularly in whom injuries are not obvious. In anticipation to the rapid ageing of the population, it is urgent to analyse and understand this emerging issue so that social policies and regulation may be developed, in an effort to protect the elderly, as well as to make improvements in the professionals' skills.

Expert testimony in sexual assault cases: Alcohol intoxication and memory

At court-martial tribunals in the United States military, cases involving alcohol facilitated sexual assault often pivot on the alleged victim’s level of intoxication or impairment and ability to consent to the sexual act. These cases frequently arise following a night of partying and heavy drinking among a group of friends and acquaintances, military and civilian. The determination of whether a sexual act was consensual may rest on estimates of the alleged victim’s blood alcohol concentration and related behavioral indicia of impairment. Expert testimony may be presented by the prosecution and/or the defense, from forensic toxicologists and psychiatrists or psychologists regarding the potential involvement of alcohol and its impact on the participants relevant to the charges at court-martial. A review of the state of the science is offered to bring such testimony into perspective. Appellate cases illustrate that the experts’ testimony may sometimes elucidate, sometimes obfuscate, and sometimes exceed professional expertise and invade the province of the factfinder.

Support Person Presence and Child Victim Testimony: Believe it or Not.

This study examined the effects of support person presence on participants' perceptions of an alleged child sexual abuse victim and defendant. Two hundred jury-eligible community members (n = 100 males) viewed a DVD of an 11-year-old girl's simulated courtroom testimony either with or without a female support person seated next to her. Participants found the child victim to be less accurate and trustworthy, and the defendant to be less guilty and less likely to have sexually abused children, when the support person was present. Participants who viewed the female support person (n = 100) believed that she had probably coached and spent a great deal of time with the child victim before testifying. Female participants perceived the child to be more accurate, and the defendant to be more guilty and likely to have sexually abused children, than male participants. The degree to which the child victim's testimonial behavior violated participants' expectancies mediated the negative relation between support person presence and child victim accuracy and trustworthiness. Support person presence was positively associated with expectancy violation, which in turn was negatively associated with child victim accuracy and trustworthiness. These preliminary findings suggest that seating a support person next to an alleged child victim in court may have the unintended effect of decreasing the child's perceived credibility and, if replicated, suggest that alternative seating arrangements might be necessary.

Take 3 steps to create a fair process to investigate sexual assault

In the debate about the prevalence of sexual assaults on college campuses, false accusations are almost invariably dismissed as being so uncommon as to be insignificant. My basis of belief concerning the underestimation of false accusations is admittedly anecdotal, but it is based upon 15 years of investigating sexual assaults (among other things) and encountering firsthand cases in which alleged victims have either recanted or where there was very clear evidence that the accusation was fabricated. It is true that these cases are rare, but they do happen and are devastating to the accused. Therefore, the possibility of false accusations should be explicitly acknowledged when colleges are figuring out ways to address sexual assaults and other sexual misconduct on campuses.

Take 3 steps to create a fair process to investigate sexual assault

In the debate about the prevalence of sexual assaults on college campuses, false accusations are almost invariably dismissed as being so uncommon as to be insignificant. My basis of belief concerning the underestimation of false accusations is admittedly anecdotal, but it is based upon 15 years of investigating sexual assaults (among other things) and encountering firsthand cases in which alleged victims have either recanted or where there was very clear evidence that the accusation was fabricated. It is true that these cases are rare, but they do happen and are devastating to the accused. Therefore, the possibility of false accusations should be explicitly acknowledged when colleges are figuring out ways to address sexual assaults and other sexual misconduct on campuses.

Effects of the NICHD Protocol Training on Child Investigative Interview Quality in Korean Police Officers

This study was conducted to determine, by comparing pre- and post-training interview of 18 Korean police officers, whether training in use of the NICHD Protocol improved the quality of investigative interviews of allegedly abused child victims. Results showed that Korean police officers more often followed the Protocol structure -they introduced themselves, explained the ground rules, and conducted episodic memory training-after they had been trained. Moreover, police officers used approximately three times as many desirable prompts (such as invitations and facilitators) and fewer suggestive prompts in interviews conducted after as opposed to before the training. Invitations elicited approximately four to seven times more details on average than the least productive prompts. These results confirmed that the NICHD Protocol is effective when used to interview alleged child abuse victims in East Asia.

Looking for Blame: Rape Myth Acceptance and Attention to Victim and Perpetrator.

In two studies, the authors examined the influence of rape myth acceptance (RMA) on participants' attention toward the potential victim versus perpetrator in a rape case. In Study 1 ( N = 90), participants selected information that focused on either the male defendant or the female victim. With increasing RMA, participants preferred information that focused on the victim rather than the defendant. In Study 2 ( N = 41), participants viewed photographs depicting both victim and defendant while their eye movements were recorded. With increasing RMA, participants spent less time inspecting the defendant relative to the victim. In both studies, higher RMA predicted stronger anti-victim and pro-defendant judgments, replicating previous research. Taken together, these results support the assumption that RMA guides participants' attention, leading to a focus on the alleged rape victim and away from the alleged perpetrator. Implications of the current research and future directions are discussed.

Admissibility of Children's Statements in Sexual Abuse Prosecutions: Prompt Complaint, Excited Utterance, Medical Diagnosis or Treatment, Child Sexual Abuse Hearsay Exception; Confrontation Clause

In a prosecution for child sexual abuse, the alleged victim’s statements may be admissible in evidence as an excited utterance, a statement for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment, as a prompt complaint, or pursuant to a jurisdiction’s specific child sexual abuse hearsay exception.In assessing the current state of the waterfront with respect to the admissibility in a criminal prosecution of statements made by child victims of sexual abuse, the most glaring recent development is the backsliding caused by the United States Supreme Court’s reinterpretation of the Confrontation Clause beginning with Crawford in 2004.If the child declarant is unavailable to testify at trial, out-of-court statements of the child victim of sexual abuse are now much, much less likely to be admissible at trial. Many of such statements will have been made to law enforcement personnel. Each and every one of such statements made to law enforcement personnel, including SART personnel, must be subjected to the Confrontation Clause primary purpose testimonial/nontestimonial test. While some initial excited utterance statements to law enforcement personnel, admissible under the rules of evidence regardless of whether the declarant testifies, will be held to be nontestimonial, many others will not pass constitutional Confrontation Clause scrutiny. More significantly, all subsequent statements that were made by the unavailable to testify at trial child victim of sexual abuse as part of a subsequent ongoing investigation, in spite of admissibility of many under a state specific child sexual abuse hearsay exception, are now clearly inadmissible in a prosecution of the alleged abuser. The foregoing may be one of the most serious, hopefully, unintended consequences of the United States Supreme Court ill-advised primary purpose testimonial/nontestimonial Confrontation Clause adventure.

‘Are you going to tell me the truth today?’: Invoking obligations of honesty in police-suspect interviews.

Current police interviewing guidelines describe the investigative interview as a ‘search for truth’ (National Crime Faculty 2004). A wealth of social science literature treats ‘truth’ in the criminal justice system, like ‘honesty’, ‘lies’ and ‘deception’, as a product of individual intent and decision-making – an absolute which can be systematically observed and measured. Discourse analytic and conversation analytic methods were used to examine how police interviewers talked about ‘truth’ and ‘honesty’ in three interviews with adult males suspected of sexual offences against children. What do references to ‘truth’ and ‘honesty’ look like? Where are they positioned? How are they managed sequentially? The analysis revealed that ‘truth’ and ‘honesty’ are locally invoked interactional resources, produced, recognised and contested in two very different sequential environments. Firstly, the interviewers set up a contractual obligation to ‘tell the truth’ at the outset of the interviews. These obligations comprise an expectation of truth, a direct request for truth and a reciprocal offer of truth. This contractual obligation is then revisited later in the interview as a resource to mark disjuncture between the testimonies of the suspect and the alleged victim and construct the suspect’s testimony as implausible. This article outlines some of the implications of these observations for the development of interviewing practice.

Rape in Rural Bangladesh

Background: Rape is one of the silent brutal sexual offences in Bangladesh. Despite strong laws against it, the evil of rape continues to rise. Increasing trend of the silent cruel sexual offence (rape) represents a major psychopath sexual disorder and public health problem and progress of the country. Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the pattern of alleged rape victims in a rural district of Bangladesh with the ultimate aim to create public awareness about the brutal crime.Materials and method: This retrospective study was carried out on 330 sexually assailed alleged rape victims’ report forms, who reported at Faridpur Medical College, Bangladesh from 2007 to 2011 for medical examination. Results: Among the study subjects maximum number (70.0%) of alleged rape cases were under the age of 20 years. More than two-thirds (64.60%) of the assailants were known to the victims, most of the incidents (64.20%) occurred in the victims’ houses and nearby places. The study also revealed that minimum number of victims (14.20%) reported within 24 hours for medical examination. Almost one fourth of the alleged rape cases were gang rape and no positive finding in favour of sexual intercourse was found in about three fourth (72.40%) of cases. Conclusion: Public awareness about rape would be effective to report in due time with preserving the evidence of crime and modern techniques like DNA diagnosis may be of help to detect the assailant. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/dmcj.v3i1.22237 Delta Med Col J. Jan 2015; 3(1): 31-35

Courtroom Perceptions of Child Sexual Assault

One hundred eighty-two undergraduates (96 women) read a summary of a child sexual assault (CSA) criminal trial involving a 6-year-old alleged victim. The trial summaries differed as to whether an eyewitness to the CSA other than the victim testified in court and the age of that eyewitness (6 or 36 years old). The results showed that the additional witness did not affect women’s pro-victim judgments, but significantly increased men’s pro-victim judgments. Furthermore, compared with women, men felt more anger toward the defendant when the additional witness testified. A follow-up experiment (43 women) included an additional witness who did not witness the CSA. The results of this follow-up showed that rather than the number of witnesses, it was the additional witness to the CSA that increased pro-victim judgments. The results are discussed in terms of how additional corroborating testimony in a CSA case affects men and women jurors.

A Study of Sexual Assaults in Northern Range of Himachal Pradesh

Background: Rape is among the highest forms of underreported crime experienced by women in all sections of the society and obtaining an accurate measurement of sexual assault is a challenge. An increasing rate of sexual assaults constitutes a large number of cases registered under different sections of the Indian law, their medico-legal examination and forensic investigations.Methods: The study was conducted on 35 sexual assaults cases received for examination at RFSL, Northern Range, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India. A self-innovated proforma including the details pertaining to socio-demographic profile, medical examination, and results of specimens of victims collected during forensic analysis was designed. Benzidine test, gel-diffusion test, acid phosphatase test and microscopic examinations were conducted in the lab.Results: The common location of offence was house of the accused (31.42%) followed by house of the victim (20.0%). 48.57% of the alleged rape victims were students. Highly affected age group was 11-20 years. Fifteen girls (42.85%) were below eighteen years of age, which was the age of invalid consensual rape. Forcible rape and invalid consensual rape was reported in 68.56% cases. 77.14% victims were unmarried and 22.85% were married. 85.71% victims were Hindus followed by Muslims (11.42%) and Christian (2.85%). 80% victims knew the assailant. Rupture of hymen was found in 88.57% cases and hymen was intact in 11.42% cases. Delay of medico-legal examination of victim was noted. 31.42% victims had combined genital and extra genital injuries. Acid phosphatase test was found positive in 34.28% cases and positivity for spermatozoa in 22.85% cases. Blood was detected on clothes, undergarments and vaginal swabs in 42.85% cases. In 8.55% cases rape was committed by family members. Only one victim became pregnant following the act of sexual intercourse.Conclusion: Cases were reported from Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities and adolescents were more at risk. Majority of the victims have acquaintance with the assailant and the residence of the accused was the most common location of sexual assault. Delay in medico-legal examination caused problems in detection of semen and spermatozoa. Most of the victims had bath and genital wash after the sexual act, before medical examination and destroyed the evidence.

Question Types, Responsiveness and Self‐contradictions when Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys Question Alleged Victims of Child Sexual Abuse

SummaryWe examined 120 trial transcripts of 6‐ to 12‐year‐old children testifying to sexual abuse. Age and attorney role were analyzed in relation to question types, children's responsiveness and self‐contradiction frequency. A total of 48,716 question–response pairs were identified. Attorneys used more closed‐ended than open‐ended prompts. Prosecutors used more invitations (3% vs. 0%), directives, and option‐posing prompts than defense attorneys, who used more suggestive prompts than prosecutors. Children were more unresponsive to defense attorneys than to prosecutors. Self‐contradictions were identified in 95% of the cases. Defense attorneys elicited more self‐contradictions than prosecutors, but nearly all prosecutors (86%) elicited at least one self‐contradiction. Suggestive questions elicited more self‐contradictions than any other prompt type. There were no associations with age. These findings suggest that neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys question children in developmentally appropriate ways. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.