Rape Trauma Syndrome in Sexual Assault Cases
| Publication year | 1991 |
| Pages | 2509 |
| Citation | Vol. 12 No. 1991 Pg. 2509 |
1991, December, Pg. 2509. Rape Trauma Syndrome in Sexual Assault Cases
A woman comes into the police station and says that three months ago, she was on a date with a male acquaintance. They had a few drinks, and she invited him to her apartment. He made sexual advances to which she acquiesced, up to a point. Then she said "no," and he did not take "no" for an answer. She had no visible injuries, and there are no witnesses other than herself and the alleged rapist. She did not report this assault earlier because she was confused and frightened. In 1981, the prosecution would have declined the case. In 1991, they will accept it and let the jury decide.
In preparing for trial, the prosecutor reads the 1987 Colorado Supreme Court case of People v. Hampton.(fn1) Based on Hampton, when the prosecutor endorses his witnesses, he includes an expert on rape trauma syndrome ("RTS"). This article discusses RTS and its ramifications for both prosecutors and defense attorneys in sexual assault cases.
RTS is a subset of post-traumatic stress disorder ("PTSD"). PTSD is a psychological condition that occurs when a person experiences an event outside the range of usual human experience that would be markedly distressing to any-one.(fn2) Examples of such an event given in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(fn3) are: serious threat to the person's life or physical integrity; serious threat or harm to the person's children, spouse or other close relatives or friends; sudden destruction of a person's home or community; or seeing another person seriously injured or killed as the result of an accident or physical violence.
PTSD was first noticed among veterans returning from war. After World War I, it was called shell-shock. After World War II, it was called battle fatigue. After Vietnam, it acquired its current title. Psychologists working with Vietnam veterans eventually realized that the disorder could occur in anyone who suffered a serious, traumatic incident.
In the context of sexual assault, RTS comprises the constellation of psychological and behavioral sequelae which a woman who has been raped may suffer. The types of sequelae fall into two major categories: avoidant behavior and intrusive ideation.
Avoidant behavior can take a myriad of forms. It is common to see women who have been sexually assaulted change their behavior by avoiding anything that could remind them of the assault. They may become sexually frigid. They may avoid all men or men who look like the rapist. They may move from the apartment or town where the assault took place. A woman who was raped in an elevator may avoid elevators in the future. Avoidant behavior recently was illustrated in the movie Thelma and Louise, in which the character Louise, who had experienced a traumatic event in Texas, wanted to drive from Oklahoma to Mexico without going through Texas.
Intrusive ideation is the other side of the RTS coin. Women may relive the assault in intrusive conscious thoughts or in nightmares. A man who looks like the rapist may cause the woman to have flashbacks. Concentration and sleep disturbances are common.
RTS originally was identified by mental health workers who were intent on treating women who reported that they were assaulted. It did not develop in a setting where a professional was trying to determine whether or not a sexual assault had occurred.(fn4)
In Hampton,(fn5) the complainant worked at a bank where the defendant was a customer. According to the complainant, he asked her out on a date and raped her at the complainant's residence following the date. The complainant did not report the alleged rape for eighty-nine days.
In order to explain the delay in reporting and to further strengthen the complainant's case, the prosecutor called as a trial witness the head of the Victim Services Unit of the Colorado Springs Police Department. This witness was qualified and accepted as an expert in "victimology." She never examined the victim. She testified that a rape victim is less likely to report a rape when the assailant is someone with whom she is acquainted because of fear of retaliation. She also described the symptoms of RTS to the jury. Other witnesses, who knew the complainant, testified that the complainant had these symptoms.
The defendant was convicted and appealed to the Colorado Court of Appeals. An issue in the case was...
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