“Society Wants to See a True Victim”: Police Interpretations of Victims of Sexual Violence
| Author | Alexa Dodge,Dale C. Spencer,Rosemary Ricciardelli |
| DOI | 10.1177/1557085120970270 |
| Published date | 01 April 2021 |
| Date | 01 April 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2020
Article
Feminist Criminology
2021, Vol. 16(2) 216 –235
“Society Wants to See
© The Author(s) 2020
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a True Victim”: Police
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https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085120970270
DOI: 10.1177/1557085120970270
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Interpretations of Victims
of Sexual Violence
Rosemary Ricciardelli1 , Dale C. Spencer2,
and Alexa Dodge2
Abstract
Despite attempts to rectify the injustices experienced by victims of sexual violence
within the criminal justice system, unfounded rates for sexual violence remain high
and many victims continue to feel disempowered and voiceless. In this context,
police officers wrestle with how to support victims, while protecting those who
may be falsely accused and grappling with deeply imbedded cultural beliefs about
who constitutes a “true” victim. In the current article, we draw on interviews with
officers working in Internet Child Exploitation, sex crimes, and child abuse units
across 10 Canadian police service organizations to understand how police interpret
and respond to child, youth, and adult victims of sex crimes. We unpack the range of
interpretations of victims, explore if and how interpretations of victims translate into
police perceptions of their interactions with victims, and their interpretations of the
possible outcomes that can be offered in the investigation. We highlight the difficulties
officers encounter as they strive to balance their occupational role with victims’
needs. We argue that police interpretations of sexual violence and sexual violence
victims are shaped by the officer’s adherence to or rejection of understandings of the
“ideal victim”.
Keywords
sex crimes, victimization, ideal victims, policing, discretion
1Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada
2Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Corresponding Author:
Rosemary Ricciardelli, Department of Sociology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 230 Elizabeth
Ave., St. John’s, A1C 5S7, Canada.
Email: rricciardell@mun.ca
Ricciardelli et al.
217
In Canada, dedicated feminist activism has resulted in various changes to sexual
assault legislation aimed at undermining myths about sexual violence (e.g., the myth
that you cannot sexually assault your spouse) and addressing the revictimization of
victims of sexual violence within the criminal justice system. For instance, Criminal
Code amendments passed in 1983 reformed the law that excluded spouses from being
charged with sexual assault (Randall, 2010) and in 1997 limits were placed on defense
lawyers’ access to victims’ personal records (Sheehy, 2012). These legislative changes
were intended to reduce the emphasis on victim behavior (e.g., no longer discrediting
the victim based on their past sexual activities) and increase the focus on the violence
committed by the perpetrator (Randall, 2010; Sheehy, 2012). The 1983 reforms saw
the rise in the rate of sexual offenses reported to police, which continued steadily until
1993 until it peaked a 135 incidents per 100,000 population (Dodge et al., 2019). Since
1993, there was a steady decline, resulting in a 1997 rate that was 25% lower than the
peak of 1993. Although such legislative change can be understood as representing a
partial movement away from victim blaming, there remain many complexities in the
policing of sexual victimization, including within the context of navigating evidence
and consent (Dodge et al., 2019).
Evidencing the continued shortcomings of police responses to victims of sexual vio-
lence, a 2017 report found that one in five sexual assault claims are dismissed as base-
less by Canadian police (Doolittle, 2017). Perhaps not surprising, in 2017, the Trudeau
government called a national inquiry into cases of sexual victimization deemed
unfounded. The existence of an inquiry alone suggests that legislation and practice,
despite ongoing efforts, may inadvertently keep victims of sexual violence in a subor-
dinate position, disempowered, and voiceless. In addition, officers are torn as they
struggle to represent the voiceless and disempowered and, simultaneously, to protect
those who are falsely accused from the sex offender stigma and grapple with deeply
embedded myths about sexual violence and sexual violence victims (see, for informa-
tion on sex offender stigma, Ricciardelli & Moir, 2013; Ricciardelli & Spencer, 2017).
Recognizing the lack of empirical knowledge on police that respond to and investi-
gate sexual violence, we draw on interviews with officers working in Internet Child
Exploitation, sex crimes, and child abuse units to understand how police interpret and
respond to child, youth, and adult victims of sex crimes. We analyze data from 70
interviews and 2 focus groups with officers across 10 police service organizations to
probe the processes that inform and frame how police interpret and respond to sex
crime victims. Specifically, we unpack the seeming range of police interpretation of
victims, from those whose victimization is perceived as obvious (e.g., undoubtedly a
victim of a sex crime) to those whose victimization is perceived as more challenging
to support professionally (e.g., a victim whose claims cannot be substantiated with
evidence that surpasses the standard of reasonable doubt). Next, we explore if and how
interpretations of victims translate into police perceptions of their interactions with
victims (e.g., how officers feel the victim can be treated) and their interpretations of
the possible outcomes that can be offered in the investigation (e.g., charges laid). We
highlight the difficulties officers encounter as they strive to balance their occupational
role with victim needs, always paying heed to the fact that officer dispositions impact
218
Feminist Criminology 16(2)
how victims judge the justice meted out in the wake of their victimization (Bradford
et al., 2009; Wemmers, 2010).
We structure the article in four main sections. First, we survey the literature on sex
crimes and police-victim interactions. We then outline our methods before offering an
analysis of the traditional policing interpretive frameworks that guide police under-
standings of and responses to sex crime victims. Next, we examine the more critically
reflexive, victim-oriented approaches exhibited by some of the officers in our study,
before presenting our implications.
Sex Crimes, Police, and Victims
In the policing of sex crimes, little is known about police interpretations of victims—an
undeniably difficult concept to measure. Concerns arise as the percentage of sex crime
cases considered “unfounded” remains higher than for other crimes and continues to
vary widely between provinces in Canada, demonstrating that high rates are not solely
due to the challenging nature of proving the act (Benoit et al., 2015, p. 8; Light &
Ruebsaat, 2006). Researchers continue to assert that gender bias (Martin, 2005) and
rape myths (Spohn et al., 2015) influence the way some (not all) police officers under-
stand and respond to sexual violence (Jordan, 2001). For example, over a decade ago,
Jordan (2001) argued that police and sexual assault survivors remain “worlds apart” in
their interpretations of sexual victimization, including in the needs of police versus
victims in investigations and outcomes. One of the reasons behind this division, she
argues, is that police rely on stereotypes and may expect victims to be “perfect” in terms
of their behaviors and their ostensible culpability in their victimization (Jordan, 2008).
Jordan, in the context of any exchange preceding sexual contact between adults, sug-
gests that such an exchange is nearly always debatable in its role as a pre-signaling of
consent. Interpretations of consent, the idea that one may truly believe the pending
sexual partner does consent, draws into question the intent to victimize by the accused,
which complicates investigations and criminal processes (Randall, 2010).
The notion of a perfect or an “ideal victim” then provides the interpretive frame-
work for public and media interpretations of victims of sex crimes, with child victims
receiving the greatest level of sympathy (Christie, 1986; Davies et al., 2007; Dunn,
2010). For Christie, an ideal victim: “must be strong enough to be listened to, or dare
to talk. But she (he [they]) must at the very same time be weak enough not to become
a threat to other important interests” (Christie, 1986, p. 21). In addition, victims must
be seen as not, in any way, contributing to their victimization by not being in the
“wrong” places at the “wrong” times with the “wrong” people. Legal requirements
about evidence and demonstrating “beyond reasonable doubt” to secure convictions
ensure these frameworks guide officers’ interpretations of sex crime victims, at least in
some capacity, given the reciprocal affect it places on their investigations and ability
to respond to such offenses. To this end, Jordan (2001, p. 679) explained that “little in
the way of substantive improvements appears possible within this historically and
cross-cultural fraught area”. Of course, despite what can be done (i.e., if charges can
be laid or not), how police respond to victims of sex crimes is invaluable for ensuring
Ricciardelli et al.
219
that victims are “being treated fairly and with respect—[which] is as important as the
outcome of the case” (Johnson,...
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