Abstract
In Sexual Violence on Trial: Local and Comparative Perspectives, editors Rachel Killean, Eithne Dowds, and Anne-Marie McAlinden bring together scholars and practitioners to critically examine the delivery of justice in cases involving sexual violence in Northern Ireland, specifically, and the United Kingdom, more broadly. Diverse, though interrelated, contributions shine a light on current and historical socio-legal responses to sexual violence in the region.
Following the now infamous 2018 ‘Rugby Rape Trial’ in Northern Ireland, an independent review was commissioned to examine the law and criminal procedure in relation to serious sexual offense cases. This trial and the review that followed foreground this four-part book. The book begins with five chapters dedicated to the criminal justice process from investigation to adjudication. The next five chapters explore how rape myth and stereotypes impact police and juror decision-making. In the third section, we are introduced to diverse domestic and international perspectives on (1) public access and media coverage of sexual violence trials, (2) reframing consent, (3) legal representation for persons who experience sexual violence, (4) the application of restorative justice practices in sexual violence cases, and (5) investigative and prosecution challenges in Scotland. The final four chapters challenge us to think more expansively about the criminal justice response to sexual violence and offer a path forward.
As a former prosecution-based victims’ advocate turned scholar, I found the breadth of content in this book insightful. Throughout my reading, I came to recognize many parallels between my own observations working within the U.S. system and those described by contributors. It is because of this experience and my own research that I focus this review on chapters that examine structural factors that impact the investigation and prosecution of sex crimes.
McKee (Chapter 3) puts the crime of sexual violence in context by reminding us that not all violent crime is created equally. Indeed, a surfeit of research indicates that justice actors worldwide routinely search for factors that undermine the credibility of victims of sexual violence unlike any other victim of serious violent crime. Among all violent crime types, victims of sexual violence are more frequently blamed for their own victimization, even those who are under the legal age of consent. Empirical literature suggests this is due to a multiplicity of factors including individual attitudes and beliefs, institutional culture, the acceptance and perpetuation of rape myths and stereotypes within the policing profession, and insufficient training. McKee highlights the complexities of policing sexual violence in Northern Ireland; cultural and political contexts, workload demands, heavy emotional labor, and compassion fatigue define the contours of policing practices and engagement with victims of sexual violence. The chapter concludes with a call for all criminal justice stakeholders to come together and take ownership of the problem of sexual violence. McKee argues that as we look toward the future, collective, collaborative, and proactive responses are necessary to minimize the impacts of sexual violence on victims, perpetrators, and communities.
Following McKee’s discussion on the influence of rape myth acceptance on investigative practices, Cowan (Chapter 7) explores how rape myths prejudice trials and proposes potential solutions. In Northern Ireland, as in other jurisdictions worldwide, reports of sexual violence have increased, whereas conviction rates for the same have dropped. Although multiple explanations may exist for such a drop, Cowan focuses our attention on mock jury and psychological experiments that identify trial aspects vulnerable to rape myth. Frequently deployed by defense attorneys during opening and closing statements, as well as cross-examination of state witnesses, rape myths are often used to challenge or explain away matters of consent—a critical, almost always contested element in sexual violence trials. Contrary to popular belief, sexual violence does not routinely involve visible physical injury; the absence of visible injuries is commonly used as ‘evidence’ to suggest that consent must have been provided. The second area rape myths are deployed involves the victim’s character and sexual history. When these myths are deployed, they aim to increase the victim’s culpability while decreasing the defendant’s. Trial court processes do little to mitigate such behavior, which means rape myths frequently go unchallenged. One recommendation is to provide enhanced juror education and instruction on rape myths and the impact of trauma on memory and behavior; another requires prosecutors to create strong(er) counter-narratives that challenge defense counsel’s interpretation of events and dispel the rape myths they perpetuate.
Burman and Brindley (Chapter 16) highlight challenges for the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence in Scotland. Although only 5% of all reported crimes in Scotland, crimes of sexual violence have risen to their highest levels in nearly five decades. To address this, and signal its importance, the Scottish government has enacted policy changes and established specialist investigative units and a dedicated national task force. Conviction rates remain low, however. Scottish criminal law requires two separate sources of evidence to corroborate a victim’s accounting of events. This is certainly problematic when one considers crimes involving sexual violence are often (almost always) perpetrated in private and involve only two witnesses—the victim and the accused. Under Scots law, ‘no matter how strong and credible’ a victim or survivor’s testimony is considered, these cases cannot move forward without independent corroboration. Other challenges involve keeping victims or survivors engaged throughout the investigative and adjudicatory process. Lengthy delays and lack of information about the cases in which they are involved lead to attrition. If victims do make it to court, they often feel ill-prepared and highly vulnerable to character and other personal attacks while on the witness stand. Mitigating these and other secondary harms is particularly challenging in the absence of clear victims’ rights, policies, and processes.
In the final chapter, Dowds, McAlinden, and Killean (Chapter 20) reflect upon and summarize the key aims and contributions of this book. As the editors highlight, sexual violence in Northern Ireland and elsewhere occurs across diverse contexts; responding to it requires an equally diverse range of perspectives that incorporate victim-survivors, as well as community and systems-based stakeholders. Throughout the book, contributors raise important matters for discussion in Northern Ireland and in broader U.K. contexts; however, I would argue the core issues examined in this collection are relevant and worthy of attention wherever sexual violence occurs. Overall, this book has much to contribute to discourses on the victim, the accused, and the philosophical construct we call justice, as well as criminal justice processes and responses to sexual violence in Northern Ireland and beyond.