Allegations Of Sexual Abuse Research Articles

The use of alternative scenarios in assessing the reliability of victims’ statements

ABSTRACT The use of alternative scenarios has been advocated as a method to mitigate bias when evaluating the reliability of testimonies. In two experiments, undergraduate students acted as expert witnesses when reading an alleged child sexual abuse case file and evaluated the reliability of the statements. In the first experiment, a subgroup of participants were encouraged to think about alternative scenarios (i.e. the statements are fabricated) when evaluating statements (N = 150). Contrary to our expectations, these participants were not more skeptical about the reliability of the alleged victim’s testimony than the control participants. In the second experiment (N = 205), we tested whether scenario-thinking protected against context effects (i.e. the unintended influence of irrelevant information) from a defense lawyer or prosecutor. We found no support that being sensitized to alternative scenarios made participants more skeptical of the reliability of testimonies. However, when we performed an internal joint analysis of Experiments 1 and 2, we did find some evidence that considering alternative scenarios made participants more skeptical of the suspect’s guilt than those in the control group. We discuss the use of alternative scenarios in expert witness work and potential ways to empirically test the alternative scenario approach in the future.

Study of Victims of Alleged Sexual Assault

BACKGROUND: Sexual assault has been a major concern to our society. It is one of the most underreported offences to the law enforcement agencies. Such offences are multi-faceted and certain details of the offence may be hard to be unearthed even after a thorough investigation.
 AIMS: To study factors associated with reporting of sexual assault cases and to correlate findings with the alleged history.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in the Department of Forensic Medicine, M.S. Ramaiah Medical College Bangalore from January 2018 and December 2020. All victims of alleged sexual assault brought for medical examination to the Department of Forensic Medicine were interviewed through a detailed questionnaire after taking consent. Relevant information was sought from the victim and the consent from victims. Descriptive statistics for qualitative type of data were summarized using frequency and percentage.
 RESULTS: 82 victims those who had come to or brought by the parents or guardian or police with alleged history of sexual assault were subjected for medical examination. All of them were females except two juveniles. Majority of the victims (n=71, 86.5%) were less than 18 years of age and were considered as juvenile / minors under Indian law. Either the victims or their parents reported to the police in most of the cases (n=76, 92.7%). In 53.65% of the cases the alleged assaults were reported to the police after three days of alleged recent sexual assault. The purpose of reporting to the police was because of honour or pride of the parents / guardian in 59.75% of the cases. It was observed that only in four cases there were positive findings of recent penetrative sexual assault in the form of fresh hymeneal tears or presence of spermatozoa in the swabs taken during genital examination.
 CONCLUSION: Majority of the victims of alleged sexual assault were minors. Only 12% of them reported to the law enforcement directly without anybody persuading. More than 50% of victims presented to the hospital after 3 days of the alleged sexual assault. In most of minor victims the sexual intercourse was consented, but it was invalid since the girl below 18 years cannot consent for sexual intercourse. Majority of adult victims had consented for sexual intercourse on promise of marriage. In view of these, no physical injuries were seen on victims and positive evidence of sexual assault was detected only in 5% of cases.

Background levels of body fluids and DNA on the shaft of the penis and associated underpants in the absence of sexual activity

This study examines the background of blood, saliva, semen and autosomal DNA on penile swabs and underpants from males in the absence of recent sexual activity. Based on the data collected by the AFSP Body Fluid Forum, the results of this study show that; there is a very low expectation of detecting blood on penile swabs and male underpants; a low expectation of detecting saliva on penile swabs and male underpants; and spermatozoa would be expected in less than a quarter of penile swabs and three quarters of male underpants. As none of the samples had detectable levels of DNA which were suitable for meaningful comparison that did not match the donor or their partner, the expectation of detecting a DNA profile from the cellular background on penile swabs or underpants from a male who has not been involved in recent sexual intercourse is very low. The results of this study are extremely informative when evaluating the significance of blood, saliva, semen and DNA detected on the penile swabs and underpants of males in cases of alleged sexual assault.

The ‘most maligned’ witness in the Christopher Dawson case: Gender, power, media and legal culture in the digitally distributed live-streamed court

This article analyses the cultural construction of gender in a highly mediated, globally publicised Australian murder trial. Using the tools of multimodal socio-linguistic analysis, it interrogates the construction of a key female witness – known by the legal pseudonym ‘JC’ – in the physical, digitally distributed and livestreamed courtroom and subsequently through the media sphere, including in newspapers, magazines, podcasts, television and social media. It surfaces a victimblaming narrative in relation to alleged child sexual abuse that was an underlying theme in pretrial reporting, a central feature of the defence’s courtroom strategy and cross examination, and subsequently a dominant focus of the mainstream media’s trial coverage. It traces the emergence of a counter-discourse on social media largely propelled by contributors self-identifying as young women, and the radical reframing of the media narrative in response to the court’s verdict. The article also contextualises its findings against a background in which media technologies and media logics are dramatically reshaping the court’s practices and procedures in relation to ‘open justice’, as evidenced by the operation of the virtual media gallery and publicly livestreamed verdict. It concludes that the hyper-gendered narratives that framed the case are not new. Instead, media technologies – including the court’s livestream, and the public’s use of interactive media platforms – have brought new visibility to a longstanding socio-cultural problem. In Australia, R v Christopher Michael Dawson has been widely celebrated as a step forward for gender equality and the treatment of domestic and sexual abuse by and in the media and the legal system. This analysis demonstrates that in reality change is marginal and uneven.

Epidemiological and Clinical aspects of the management of victims of sexual abuse in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Hospital Principal Dakar

Introduction: Sexual abuse or sexual assault, a major public health problem, is defined as any sexual violation committed with violence, coercion, threat or surprise on the person of another. This worldwide societal tragedy has dramatic repercussions on the physical and psychological health and social well-being of victims. The objective of this study was to determine the epidemiological and clinical profile and to evaluate the management of sexual violence at Hospital Principal Dakar. Patients and methods: This was a retrospective study of all cases of alleged sexual assault received at the maternity ward of the Hôpital Principal de Dakar during the period from 1 January 2018 to 15 April 2022, i.e. 4 years. Results: During this period, 57 assault cases out of 77 were collated which represent 75% of medico-legal cases and 0.35% of admissions. The patients were immediately referred with a judicial requisition (91.2%) and were accompanied by their relatives in 90.7% of cases. The average consultation time after the attack was 17 days, with extremes ranging from 5 hours to 3 years. The epidemiological profile of the victim was that of an adolescent girl aged on average 15 years, a student (75%), nulligest (96.4%) and living in an urban area (51.9%). The sexual assault took place during the day (82.6%), at the victim's home (15.7%) or that of the alleged perpetrator (35.3%), and was perpetrated by an adult (81.6%) belonging to the victim's entourage in 78.6% of cases (parents, spiritual guide, teacher, driver, roommate, family friend). The mode of sexual abuse was genital contact in 62.3% of cases. The examination most often revealed hymenal trauma (78.5%), three quarters of which were old lesions, with no sign of physical violence in 91.1%. In almost all of the presumed victims, the psychological impact was not assessed on admission. Five pregnancies were recorded; emergency contraception was prescribed for 23.1% of patients. An infectious disease assessment, antibiotic prophylaxis, ARV prophylaxis and a psychological consultation were prescribed in 90%, 85.7%, 78.5% and 54.9% of cases respectively. Only 14.8% of the victims had been followed up. Conclusion: Sexual abuse, the scourge of our time, is a disturbing reality. The real prevalence of this growing phenomenon is poorly known because of the many taboos and patriarchy. Optimal care for victims inevitably involves raising awareness among the population in order to break the silence, setting up specialised structures and collaboration between the various actors to condemn these crimes and, above all, to provide medical and psychological assistance and safe social reintegration for victims.

Parental alienation in Lebanon: a case report

BackgroundParental alienation is a relatively newly described disorder, with a growing prevalence, as divorce and custody battles are becoming more and more complex with increased difficulty of joint custody. In parental alienation, one parent, the alienating parent, forms an alliance with the child involved in the custody dispute and manages to effectively alienate the targeted parent completely. The child and the alienating parent manifest a form of folie à deux and, hence, are in complete synchrony in the hatred and denigration of the targeted parent. Issues, such as potentially false allegations of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of the child by the targeted parent, arise. The child and the alienating parent become mutually convinced of the targeted parent’s transgressions. Consequently, it becomes difficult for the courts and psychiatric professionals to differentiate true abuse from parental alienation.Case presentationIn this case study, we aimed to conduct an in-depth psychological and psychiatric evaluation of a Lebanese family (white race) where a father was wrongly accused by the mother and his 11-year-old white boy of both physical and sexual abuse. The data for this study were collected through unstructured and semi-structured interviews, observations, and psychological tests (Rorschach test for the parents and Blacky test for the child), and through the analysis of documented evidence presented in the trial.ConclusionThis case manifested most criteria set forth for the diagnosis of parental alienation and created serious doubt regarding the validity of the allegations set forth by the mother and the child. Uncovered parental alienation often misleads mental health professionals at the expense of the child’s mental health .

Lifetime rates and types of subsequent child protection system contact following a first report of neglect: An age-stratified analysis.

An estimated 1 in 3 U.S. children will be the subject of a child protective services (CPS) investigation during their lifetime, typically for allegations of neglect. Whether and how an initial report of neglect is addressed may place children on divergent trajectories for safety and stability throughout childhood. The purpose of this study is to track subsequent CPS contact among children born in California in 2000 who were first investigated by CPS for neglect allegations alone (no co-occurring abuse) and not permanently separated from their families of origin (i.e., not removed or reunified if removed). We estimated the rates of subsequent CPS referrals, substantiated maltreatment, placement in foster care, and allegations of physical and sexual abuse by age 18. We assessed how rates of subsequent contact varied by initial CPS response and age at first investigation. Supplemental analyses disaggregated data by race and ethnicity. Results indicate that 64% of children initially investigated for neglect alone were re-referred to CPS by age 18 and 16% experienced a subsequent removal; however, these estimates varied greatly by age. Four out of five (79% to 83%) of children initially investigated as infants had one or more subsequent CPS referrals during childhood. Children were not only re-referred for allegations of neglect; more than half of children re-referred were reported for allegations of physical or sexual abuse, indicating that abuse risk was either missed during the initial CPS investigation or escalated afterward. The failure to address maltreatment risks when children first present to the system is a complex problem with no easy solution. Our findings document that a majority of children initially referred for neglect experience future CPS involvement, often for allegations of physical or sexual abuse.

The Pope’s New Clothes

The Pope’s New Clothes

The Blue Beret

The Blue Beret

Collegiate Athletes and Sexual Assault: Justice for Victims Amid Perpetrator Protections

This research paper reviews existing research and attitudes on the paradigm of a quiet, yet pervasive reality that exists within collegiate level athletics. A reality that defies federal law, and protects male athletes from facing repercussions for perpetrating acts of sexual misconduct--disproportionately affecting young women, typically of college age, and already the most vulnerable to sexual abuses such as assault and harassment. In the US, women face disproportionate rates of sexual assault-- their male counterparts making up the overwhelming perpetrator demographic. But, few know collegiate male athletes, and inter-collegiate athletic authorities and leadership perpetrate and enable these crimes, on college campuses at even more alarming rates. This raises the question of how do the ethical protections provided to collegiate level male athletes in the U.S. accused of sexual assault disproportionately impact the justice of victims? And, how must stakeholders act to resolve the injustices and disproportionalities that exist? The research findings conclude that The NCAA and OCR must be held accountable, via an Athlete and Accomplice Accountability Act (Quad-A), a framework devised for a legislative mandate that provides for the eliminations of current “recommendations” for handling sexual assault allegations, in addition to furthered enforcement of victim protections among other facets.

Comparing Maltreatment Experiences for Young People with Child Protection or Dual System Involvement

This study examined how single and multiple types of maltreatment allegations differed for young people with child protective services (CPS) only and dual system (i.e., CPS and juvenile delinquency court petition) involvement by gender and race and ethnicity. Allegation types were documented for young people with CPS only or dual system involvement using linked CPS and Probation records for Los Angeles County for a cohort of children born between 1998 and 2001 with a history of at least one CPS maltreatment investigation between birth and age 18. The CPS only and dual system groups were compared using chi-square tests, and a generalized linear model was constructed to assess the relationship between key variables and dual system involvement. Two thirds of young people with dual system involvement (68.2%) experienced two or more allegation types, compared with less than half of young people with CPS involvement only (46.0%). More than three quarters of girls (77.1%) and Black young people (75.3%) with dual system involvement experienced multiple types of maltreatment. 11% of young people with only CPS involvement experienced sexual abuse with another maltreatment type, compared to 22.7% of young people with dual system involvement and 38.6% of girls with dual system involvement.The findings highlight the complex CPS histories of young people with dual system involvement, especially among girls and Black young people. These findings should facilitate discussion of gender-responsive services for young people with traumatic sexual experiences, given the frequency of sexual abuse allegations among girls with dual system involvement.

From “borking” to getting “kavanaughed”: language, reputation, and the importance of a (male) name

ABSTRACT This paper considers how conservative media reported on the sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh which emerged during his 2018 confirmation hearing to the Supreme Court. Whilst the focus on the potential reputational damage to Kavanaugh was perhaps unsurprising, this paper is concerned with how the Kavanaugh name was mobilised to allow Brett Kavanaugh to stand in for his family, American men, and the nation more broadly, and contrasts this with the relative erasure of Christine Blasey Ford’s narrative, that worked to paint her (and feminists who supported her) as an aggressive force attempting to destroy the lives of men. This was operationalised through moralistic conservative discourses that worked to privilege Kavanaugh’s discursive victimisation, over Blasey Ford’s material one. The message rang clear: tarnishing a man’s “good” name is more perverse than sexual assault itself.

Acute alcohol intoxication and alcohol expectancy effects on women's memory for consensual and non-consensual sexual activity.

To test whether acute alcohol intoxication and alcohol expectancy affects how accurately women remember consensual and non-consensual sexual activity that occurred during an interactive hypothetical dating scenario. A balanced placebo randomized study that varied alcohol dose (mean Breath Alcohol Content; BrAC = 0.06%) and alcohol expectancy prior to participants encoding a hypothetical interactive rape scenario was implemented. Participants could elect to consent to sexual activity with a male partner in the hypothetical scenario. If they stopped consenting, non-consensual sexual intercourse (i.e., rape) was described. Seven days later, participants' memory for consensual and non-consensual sexual activity in the scenario was tested. Memory accuracy, confidence, and feelings of intoxication. A total of 90 females (M age = 20.5, SD = 2.2) were tested regarding their memory accuracy for the consensual and non-consensual sexual activities in the scenario. A multi-level logistic regression predicting memory accuracy for the perpetrator's behaviors during the rape indicated no effect of alcohol intoxication. However, a main effect of alcohol expectancy was found, whereby participants who expected to consume alcohol, compared to those who did not, recalled the perpetrator's behaviors during the rape more accurately. A second regression predicting memory accuracy for consensual sexual activity found no main effects for alcohol intoxication or alcohol expectancy. Participants recalled consensual sexual activity with a high degree of accuracy. Calibration analyses indicated that accuracy increased with confidence level, regardless of intoxication level or alcohol expectancy condition, but that women tended to be overconfident in general. This study provides an important test of how accurately women remember consensual and non-consensual sexual activities. The accuracy of this information is important for forensic medical examinations and police investigations following an allegation of sexual assault. Increased memory accuracy was found for offence details when participants expected to consume alcohol, suggesting there may be important differences in attentional processes (e.g., hypervigilance) depending on whether threat is present. Further research is necessary to investigate memory for sexual violence in real-world settings and to test methods for ascertaining the most complete and reliable accounts.

Trends in Sexual Assault Against Detainees in US Immigration Detention Centers, 2018-2022

This study examines sexual assault allegations perpetrated against individuals detained across US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities from 2018 to 2022.

UC Davis chemistry professor fired after investigation for alleged sexual assault of a high school student

Ting Guo, a chemistry professor at the University of California, Davis, was fired by the UC Board of Regents Jan. 19 after an investigation into whether he raped a high school student he was mentoring in 2010. UC Davis released a statement Jan. 12 confirming the investigation. Guo had been on paid leave since January 2021. Guo was named in a 2020 civil lawsuit by the student, listed as Jane Doe. The suit says that in 2010, the student, who lived in Davis, met Guo after her Advanced Placement chemistry teacher asked the class to shadow a chemist. Guo continued to mentor the student after that initial meeting. Several months later, the student took gifts to Guo at his Davis home, where he raped her, according to the lawsuit. Guo raped the student two more times in separate incidents, also at his home. In one case he offered to give

UC Davis chemistry professor fired after investigation for alleged sexual assault of a high school student

UC Davis chemistry professor fired after investigation for alleged sexual assault of a high school student

Child Sexual Grooming of Catholic Clergy: A Comparison between Victims Allegedly Abused by Clergy with Single versus Multiple Victims

ABSTRACT There is evidence that clergy who commit child sexual abuse (CSA) may utilize sexual grooming behaviors in the offense process consistent with a content-validated model (Sexual Grooming Model; SGM). Although research has examined differences in characteristics between clergy with single versus multiple CSA victims, little is known about how sexual grooming behaviors may vary between these groups. The present study utilized a large sample of alleged clergy sexual abuse incidents (n = 10,667) to examine the differences in reported sexual grooming behaviors for victims who experienced abuse by an individual who had a single (V-SVOs) or multiple (V-MVOs) victims. As part of a larger study, files of victim reports of CSA were reviewed from 195 dioceses/eparchies and 140 religious institutes in the United States; these data were analyzed based on behaviors in the SGM for the present study. Overall, the findings showed that the two groups (V-SVOs and V-MVOs) experienced similar tactics throughout the sexual grooming process outlined by the SGM. However, there were some differences for certain tactics within the gaining access and isolation, trust development, and desensitization to sexual contact and physical touch stages of sexual grooming. The implications for prevention, policy, and treatment, as well as future directions of research, are discussed.

Study on Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Alleged Sexual Assault Cases: an Experiences in Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Study on Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Alleged Sexual Assault Cases: an Experiences in Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Analysis of Medicolegal Examination in Alleged Sexual Abuse Presented to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Sri Lanka

Forensic experts are often expected to provide an opinion on alleged physical or sexual contact between individuals following medicolegal examination of a case of sexual abuse (SA). There are many factors influencing the opinion. A retrospective descriptive study was performed to study the factors influencing the medicolegal opinion in SA forensic examination using medical and medicolegal records of alleged SA victims to extract data. Records of 441 victims were studied. A majority, 180 (40%), presented due to the guardian’s concerns – 302 (68%) presented for medicolegal examination 72 h after the incident. Recent injuries were observed in only 15% of the victims. Genital injuries were observed in 74% of the victims brought due to concerns of the guardians, with 12 victims having recent injuries. Of the 172 victims who complained of vaginal intercourse, 21% had recent injuries. A firm positive medicolegal opinion could be given in 63% of all cases. In 124 individuals, a firm positive or negative opinion could not be given. A majority (n = 90, 73%) of these individuals did not have any injuries, while 23% had healed injuries. According to the nature of the complaint, in a significant number of victims (53%), no scientific evidence was present to make a firm opinion. The nature of the sexual act and the absence of injuries influence the medicolegal opinion on SA, making it a challenging task for forensic experts.

On shame and the perceived credibility of sexual assault allegations

AbstractDespite the high incidence of sexual assault, doubt about allegations is common. Previous research suggests that victims expressing positive or no emotion are perceived as less credible than those expressing negative emotions. However, little is known about which specific negative emotional expressions contribute to credibility in this context. In two studies (N = 623), participants read a date rape vignette. The alleged victim's statement was paired with a picture of a female person expressing either shame, sadness, or no emotion. Participants rated the credibility of her account and completed a measure of rape myth acceptance. Controlling for rape myth acceptance, allegations were perceived as more credible when accompanied by an expression of shame versus sadness (a negative, low arousal control condition). It is critical to be aware of the shame‐credibility bias in this context to intervene and support those who have experienced sexual assault.