[De]-Centering the Victim: Police Perceptions of Victims of Sexual Violence through a Comparative Lens of Evidence Collection and Processing

• Published date: 01 December 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/15570851211031991
• Date: 01 December 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

2021, Vol. 16(5) 680 –700

https://doi.org/10.1177/15570851211031991

Feminist Criminology

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/15570851211031991

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Article

[De]-Centering the Victim:

Police Perceptions of Victims

of Sexual Violence through a

Comparative Lens of Evidence

Collection and Processing

Deborah White1 and Lesley McMillan2

Abstract

Police are central to the statutory response to sexual violence, shaping the direction

an investigation may take. Evidence provided by victims is also key to the processing

of sexual assault cases. From a 2013 comparative qualitative study involving interviews

with police officers in one province in Canada (n = 11) and one region in Scotland

(n = 10) who investigate such cases, we discovered striking unanticipated differences

between the two groups in terms of how they perceived victims and the evidence

they provide. This paper presents a thematic analysis of these data and considers

possible implications and explanations.

Keywords

sexual assault, victimization, rape, policing, qualitative research, women, justice

interests

Sexual violence continues to afflict the lives of women at remarkably high rates (Htun &

Weldon, 2012; Ministry of Justice, 2013; Powell & Henry, 2017; Tjaden & Thoennes,

2006). While men, non-binary and transgendered persons are certainly subject to such

violations, women and girls constitute the majority of victims (Du Mont & White, 2013;

McMillan, 2007; Perreault, 2013; Powell & Henry, 2017; Taylor & Gassner, 2010).

Beyond the persistent prevalence of sexual assault and rape1 and the psychological,

1Trent University, Canada

2Glasgow Caledonian University, UK

Corresponding Author:

Deborah White, Department of Sociology, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON

K9L 0G2, Canada.

Email: deborahwhite2@trentu.ca

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research-article

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emotional, physical, and social impacts they have upon victims (Chivers-Wilson, 2006;

Du Mont & White, 2013; Johnson et al., 2008), what is striking is the general inefficacy

of criminal justice systems with respect to charging, convicting or deterring perpetrators

of these crimes (Corrigan, 2013; Daly & Bouhours, 2010; Jordan, 2011; McMillan,

2007, 2018; Shelby, 2020; Temkin & Krahé, 2008).

The police are central to both the statutory response to sexual assault and rape, and

to the post-assault experiences of victims.2 They are “the first port of call for victims

of rape who choose to engage with the criminal justice process and report the offence

committed against them” (McMillan, 2015, p. 623; see also, Campbell, 2008; Jordan,

2011; Taylor & Gassner, 2010). In some instances, the police may be the only criminal

justice personnel a victim has contact with (Parsons & Bergin, 2010). As it is the

responsibility of police to investigate a claim of rape or sexual assault for a case to

potentially move forward, they have been identified as “gatekeepers” (Corrigan, 2013;

Jordan, 2004; McMillan, 2015; Taylor & Gassner, 2010; Vopni, 2006). Typically,

based upon a complainant’s narrative, it is largely their discretion to decide whether or

not a crime may have occurred and, if so, how it might be classified (Alderden &

Ullman, 2012; Frazier & Haney, 1996; Lievore, 2003; McMillan, 2015; Maier, 2008;

Venema, 2016; Vopni, 2006; Wentz, 2020), although, as Ricciardelli et al. (2021) have

observed, this decision-making does occur within a broader and often complex cul-

tural and legal framework based on interpretations of consent and requirements for

evidence that can demonstrate that a crime occurred “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Given the significance of the police in the institutional response to sexual assault,

understanding the full nature of their role, and their perceptions, behaviors and rela-

tions in processing cases of sexual violence is essential.

The Study: Police and Forensic Medical Evidence

The data presented in this paper about how police officers perceive victims of sexual

violence emerged as a secondary, but striking, set of findings from a study investigat-

ing police officers’ understandings of the forensic medical examination and the evi-

dence it provides. In order to make clear the context in which our data were generated,

it is cogent to explain the design and purpose of the original study, providing a brief

overview of its rationale and the literature in which it was situated.

The primary form of evidence in a sexual assault or rape case is the narrative pre-

sented by a victim in the process of reporting the crime (see, Wentz, 2020). Throughout

most criminal justice systems however, additional evidence is not only generally

required to corroborate that claim, but often seen as pivotal to the possibility of a case

progressing (see, White & McMillan, 2018). One of the chief tasks of police is involve-

ment in the accumulation of such corroborative support. While forensic evidence

exists in a variety of forms (e.g., witness statements, CCTV, data from personal mobile

devices), a key component of the evidentiary process in rape and sexual assault case

processing involves that collected from a victim through a forensic medical examina-

tion (Du Mont & White, 2007; White & McMillan, 2018). There has long been a com-

mon belief in criminal justice and popular culture that this type of medico-legal