Police Sexual Violence Research Articles

Media coverage of sexual violence by police in colonial contexts: an explorative study

ABSTRACT When facing the inadequacy of the legal system, an initial impulse is to turn to non-legal accountability mechanisms, like the media. This research contends that the latter can also exhibit strong limitations. More precisely, the paper investigates how journalists shaped the Val-d’Or ‘crisis’. These events consisted of allegations of police (sexual) violence, mainly against Indigenous women, and were disclosed to the public by the media in 2015. This research relies on qualitative interviews with journalists and members of civil society. While participants confirmed the media’s capacity to bring allegations into the public sphere, they also decried the dismissal of some narratives, including the colonial context and the focus on one police force (i.e. the Sûreté du Québec) as opposed to police violence, as well as the revictimization of media informants. This exploratory study cautions that mediatic input can harm victims and prevent a complete comprehension of police sexual violence by silencing the role of settler colonialism.

Synergistic effects of exposure to multiple types of violence on non-fatal drug overdose among women who inject drugs in Indonesia

BackgroundWhile research has demonstrated associations between experiencing violence from intimate and non-intimate partners and non-fatal drug overdose among women who inject drugs, existing studies focus predominantly on the Global North and are analytically limited. Guided by syndemics theory, this study examined whether different forms of gender-based violence exert independent and interactive effects on non-fatal drug overdose among women who inject drugs in Indonesia. MethodsWe recruited 731 cisgender adult women who injected drugs in the preceding year via respondent-driven sampling. We used multivariate logistic regressions to examine associations between self-reported intimate partner violence (IPV), police sexual violence, and police extortion, and non-fatal drug overdose, with covariance adjustment for factors drawn from the risk environment. We tested for interaction effects among violence measures by calculating metrics for attributable proportion (AP), relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI), and synergy index (S). ResultsExperiencing IPV (AOR 2.5; 95 % CI 1.2, 5.1; p = 0.012), police extortion (AOR 2.2; 95 % CI 1.5, 3.2; p ≤ 0.001), and police sexual violence (AOR 3.7; 95 % CI 1.5, 9.4; p = 0.005) each independently predicted non-fatal overdose, after adjusting for potential confounders. A significant positive interaction was detected between IPV and police sexual violence on drug overdose (AP=0.6, p = 0.001; S = 3.8, p = 0.015) such that the joint effect of these two forms of violence was associated with a nearly fourfold increase in non-fatal overdose risk compared to the main effects of each violence exposure. ConclusionThis is the first study to show that concurrent IPV and police sexual violence exert an amplifying effect on non-fatal overdose beyond the additive effects of each exposure. Supporting the value of gender-responsive harm reduction services that integrate violence and overdose responses, results suggest that eliminating one form of violence when multiple forms of GBV are present could magnify the expected reduction in overdose.

A Study of the Criminal Victimization of Policewomen by Other Police Officers

Abstract Our research focuses on the criminal victimization of policewomen by other police officers. The data derive from a larger nationwide study on police crime, or cases in which police officers have been arrested for the perpetration of one or more criminal offenses. The current study identifies cases involving policewomen who are victims of police-perpetrated sexual harassment, official misconduct, stalking, indecent exposure, simple and aggravated assault, and rape. The specific goals of the research are three-fold: (1) explore the nature and character of police crimes perpetrated against policewomen, (2) describe cases of police crime perpetrated against policewomen that specifically involve some form of sexual violence, and (3) compare cases of police crime perpetrated against male and female police victims. Findings demonstrate the differential criminal victimization of policewoman, particularly in terms of cases involving police sexual violence (PSV) and officer-involved domestic violence (OIDV).

Police Sexual Violence and Corporate Crime

Scholarship on corporate crime focuses, quite naturally, on profit-motivated crime. But there are crimes with an institutional dimension that are not recognized in this framework of corporate crime. In this article, I present a case study of a police organization where multiple employees committed sexual assaults to show that these crimes can have an organizational dimension. This analysis shows two things: first, that the corporate-culture model of attributing mens rea is more effective at identifying corporate crime than the one currently in force in Canada and, second, that organization-facilitated sexual assault is a corporate-entity crime, broadening the conception of corporate crime generally. The corporate-culture model explains why corporations should be liable for crimes they encourage employees to commit even when these are not in line with the organization’s objectives.

Pandemic Policing and Police Sexual Misconduct: Voices of Women Sexually Abused by COVID-19 Enforcement Officers

While global attention has been drawn to the reported spike in the rate of gender-based violence (GBV) occasioned by COVID-19 restrictions, there exists a clear gap in knowledge about incidences of GBV perpetrated by police officers in the course of enforcing COVID-19 laws. Drawing from the Nigerian experience, this qualitative study presents the accounts of 83 sexually victimized women. From the thematic analysis, their narratives of how COVID-19 lockdown facilitated their vulnerability to police sexual violence (PSV) were documented. Although the various forms of sexual violence experienced by the women during the lockdown are similar to pre-COVID PSV, in the current study, there appear to be more varieties of sexual violence, diverse tactics used by perpetrators, more factors determining vulnerability, and a greater opportunity structure for PSV. The findings highlight the need for revisiting existing models of PSV and reimagining governments’ policies in uncertain times to ensure public safety.

Empathy for a Black Woman Victim of Police Sexual Violence: The Roles of Crime-Related Stress and Stereotype Attributions.

Police sexual violence has been ranked as the second most common form of misconduct among police officers. Moreover, there is evidence that Black women are at heightened risk of being victims of such police violence. A report titled Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women has brought international attention to the minimal empirical focus on such police violence toward Black women. To address this lacuna in the literature, using an incident of police sexual assault of a woman, we assessed whether victim's race and participants' level of crime-related stress (i.e., stress due to crime victimization) would influence empathic responding toward the victim. Prolific participants (N = 411) first completed a measure of crime-related stress. They then read an article describing a White police officer's sexual assault of a Black or White woman. Next, participants completed a racial stereotype-related measure (i.e., Black women's higher sexual proclivity) and a stereotype-unrelated measure (i.e., perceived victim untrustworthiness), and reported their victim-directed empathic responding. At high stress levels, participants reported less empathy for the Black (relative to White) victim. At low stress levels, there was greater Black victim-directed empathy. The race effects on empathy were mediated by heightened attribution of Black women-related stereotypical beliefs to the Black victim at high stress levels and by diminished attribution at low stress levels. In sum, we addressed the lacuna in the literature on police sexual violence against Black women while providing evidence that stress can play a critical role in the occurrence of the oft-cited outgroup-directed empathy deficit.

“Police Sexual Violence: A Study of Policewomen as Victims”

Police sexual violence (PSV) is an understudied but critically important topic in police research. This paper uncovers and examines an extremely hidden form of PSV: sexual assaults of female police officers by male police officers. Our qualitative analysis reveals how male police officers of widely varying ranks and years of experience sexually assault female police officers. Victims reported that the number of male police officers who sexually assault female police officers is small; however, victims reported that these officers are often serial offenders who also assault professional staff and citizens. Victims identified available investigative processes and reporting protocols, but they were afraid to report incidents due to concerns about potential retaliation from administrators and co-workers, limited career advancement or termination, being negatively viewed by co-workers, and simply not being believed. Victims believed that certain hypermasculine aspects of their agency and profession's culture allowed acts of PSV to happen, go unreported, and re-occur. We make several recommendations for how police administrators can address and prevent PSV in their agencies.

Black Girls and the Talk? Policing, Parenting, and the Politics of Protection

Abstract Black girls are marginalized from mainstream discourses and familial discussions on policing, and little is known about how families conceptualize strategies for mitigating their risk of police sexual assault and harassment. Through 30 in-depth interviews with black mothers, this article explores how social class shapes protective care strategies for reducing girls’ risk of police contact and sexual violence. While the primary police talk emphasizes black boys’ vulnerability to lethal and physical violence, I identify two additional socialization practices, or “talks” for black girls: The respectability talk is a middle-class socialization strategy that avoids direct associations between black girls and police; this talk works to minimize risk through teaching black girls how to be “ladies” by embodying racialized gendered norms that constrain their behavior and autonomy. The predatory talk is a predominantly working-class socialization strategy which aims to equip black girls with an awareness of police sexual violence and the tools for avoiding sexual assault and harassment from officers when alone or at night. The article illustrates how protective care strategies for black girls are intertwined with social class and have divergent consequences for understanding agency and responsibility for police sexual violence.

Police Sexual Violence: Police Brutality, #MeToo, and Masculinities

A woman alleges that she was raped by a police officer while in police custody. The police officer acknowledges that he had sexual intercourse with the woman, but argues that she consented to the interaction. Despite the obvious power imbalance and troubling context of the sexual activity, in a majority of U.S. states, if the police officer convinces even one member of a jury that their activity was consensual, it is not illegal. Consent is an affirmative defense to allegations of sexual assault— even when the alleged assault occurs while the victim is in the custody of the perpetrator. Allegations of sexual assault committed by police officers while on duty, known as police sexual violence (PSV), are shockingly prevalent and surprisingly underanalyzed. PSV is situated at the intersection of two vital national conversations about police brutality and sexual violence and harassment. This Article is the first to fully address PSV as the product of both issues and to recommend systemic solutions sounding in both debates. The superficial problem presented by PSV is that it is not made clearly illegal by state law and police department regulation. The deeper problem is that PSV is a symptom of broader cultural problems within police departments that can be helpfully parsed through the lens of masculinities theories. PSV is a problem springing both from issues with how police officers relate to the communities they patrol, especially men in those communities, and with how police officers and police culture treat women. These issues are magnified by the famous “blue wall of silence” ensuring loyalty even among police officers who commit misconduct. Any attempt to meaningfully address PSV must take all of these factors into account to work both a legal and a cultural change. This Article offers such solutions, addressing substantive and procedural prohibitions of PSV and broader cultural changes to police departments to combat PSV at its root.

Police Sexual Misconduct: Arrested Officers and Their Victims

Police sexual misconduct encompasses a range of acts from less serious noncriminal behaviors to more egregious criminal behaviors including police sexual violence. Victims of sex crimes are often reluctant to report sexual abuse when the offender is a police officer. The study provides empirical data on 771 sex-related arrest cases from 2005 to 2008 of 555 sworn officers at 449 nonfederal law enforcement agencies across the United States. The study identifies and describes incidents where officers were arrested for sex crimes through a quantitative content analysis of published newspaper articles and court records. Findings focus on arrested officers and their victims.

Police sexual coercion and its association with risky sex work and substance use behaviors among female sex workers in St. Petersburg and Orenburg, Russia

BackgroundExtensive research documents that female sex workers (FSWs) in Russia are very vulnerable to abuses from police, including police sexual coercion. However, despite qualitative data suggesting abusive policing practices are more likely for FSWs contending with substance abuse issues and risky sex work contexts, there is a paucity of quantitative study evaluating these associations specifically in terms of police sexual coercion. Such research is needed to guide structural interventions to improve health and safety for FSWs in Russia and globally. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence of police sexual coercion among FSWs from two Russian cities, St. Petersburg and Orenburg, and to determine whether riskier sex work behaviors and contexts and substance use behaviors, including both IDU and risky alcohol use, are associated with increased risk for sexual coercion from police. MethodFSWs in St. Petersburg and Orenburg were recruited via time-location and convenience sampling and completed structured surveys on demographics (age, education), sex work risks (e.g., violence during sex work) and substance use. Logistic regression analyses assessed associations of substance use and risky sex work with police sexual coercion, adjusting for demographics. ResultsParticipants (N=896) were aged 15 and older (94% were 20+ years). Most (69%) reported past year binge alcohol use, and 48% reported IDU the day before. Half (56%) reported 4+ clients per day. Rape during sex work ever was reported by 64%. Police sexual coercion in the past 12 months was reported by 38%. In the multivariate model, both current IDU (AOR=2.09, CI=1.45–3.02) and past year binge alcohol use (AOR=1.46, CI=1.03–2.07) were associated with police sexual coercion, as was selling sex on the street (not in venues) (AOR=7.81, CI=4.53–13.48) and rape during sex work (AOR=2.04, CI=1.43–2.92). ConclusionCurrent findings document the substantial role police sexual violence plays in the lives of FSWs in Russia. These findings also highlight heightened vulnerability to such violence among self-managed and substance abusing FSWs in this context. Structural interventions addressing police violence against FSWs may be useful to improve the health and safety of this population.

An Exploration of Recidivism and the Officer Shuffle in Police Sexual Violence

By examining a decade of newspapers accounts in the Midwest, the current study explores the nature of repeat or recidivist police sexual violence (PSV) in comparison to first-time offending in the characteristics of the offenders, nature of the PSV acts, and the departments and criminal justice system response. Results show that more than 41% of PSV cases are committed by recidivist officers who averaged 4 victims each over a 3-year span of offending. The idea of the officer shuffle is explored in the context of sexual offending by police, indicating that a minority of officers move across jurisdictions maintaining police certification despite allegations of violence and misconduct. Implications explore how policy changes, such as a national reporting system for police sexual offending, would impact problem-prone PSV offending.

Police sexual violence and rape myths: Civil liability under Section 1983

Emergence of police sexual violence (PSV) as an inquiry of police deviance has recently received increased attention. This article expands this trend, documenting court decisions within the U.S. that impose civil liability on police and correctional officers who perpetrate sexual violence. Forming the basis of the analysis are cases litigated under Title 42 U.S. Code (USC) Section 1983. The article organizes these cases into the following categories: (1) establishing the color of law requirement in PSV cases; (2) sexual violence that violates the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause; and (3) sexual violence that violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Additionally, the article notes that most officers charged with PSV attribute their behavior to common rape myths that persist in police subcultures. Calling for additional police training on rape myths, the article concludes that further research is needed on PSV within the legal, subcultural, and social context.

Police Sexual Violence: Civil Liability Under State Tort Law

This article explores civil liability under state tort law against criminal justice personnel engaged in police sexual violence (PSV). After describing vicarious liability under the doctrine of respondeat superior, the article identifies five theories that courts use in deciding whether criminal justice agents commit PSV within the scope of employment. The article also discusses PSV cases litigated pursuant to intentional and negligence torts. It concludes that governmental entities need to systematically collect data on the prevalence of PSV, and criminal justice agencies need to monitor employees' deviant acts effectively.

To serve and pursue: Exploring police sexual violence against women

This study identifies and examines an unexplored criminological phenomenon, termed here police sexual violence. Analysis and interpretation of quantitative data and case studies are used to explore the subject. Two data sets, one from federal litigation cases and the other from a media source, provide the material for examining the known incidence, distribution, and nature of this form of police crime and sexual violence against women. The data include 124 cases of police sexual violence; 37 of these are sexual assault and rape cases committed by on-duty police officers against female citizens. The analysis of case studies draws on and integrates feminist and police studies literature, allowing for the development of a police sexual violence continuum and the exploration of theoretical, conceptual, and practical issues. The conclusion explores the cultural and structural context within which police sexual violence against women occurs.