Victims and the CJS
Research has begun to examine how police, victims, and cases are impacted by victim blaming and rape myths (Sleath, 2017). Victim blaming is pervasive in the interactions between victims and law enforcement, including whether or not to
investigate or prosecute cases (McMillian, 2018). It also impacts victims’ experiences during trials and plea bargaining (Smith & Skinner, 2017), victims’ access to services to aid recovery, and it impacts the language used in laws about victimization of sexual violence.
Blaming the victims leads to a serious overestimation of the number of false claims, which impacts how seriously the CJS considers an individual claim of rape (De Zutter, Horselenberg, & van Koppen, 2017). According to RAINN, out of every 1000 rapes, only 310 will be reported to the police. There is a long history of law enforcement either not believing or blaming the victims and attributing their victimization to the victims’ actions, clothing, sexual history, and demeanor (O’Neal, 2017). In addition, if reporting to the police attracts attention of the media or the community, the victim may be isolated and blamed further, especially if the perpetrator was well known in the community. Knowing that only 57 of every 1000 rapes will lead to an arrest may further discourage victims from reporting their victimization.
Victims drop out of prosecuting the case for a number of reasons, including fear of degradation, being disbelieved by those in the CJS, and a belief that the legal system will fail to punish the perpetrators (Grubb & Turner, 2012). If a victim persists, around 11 cases out of 1000 get sent to the prosecutor’s office for prosecution and only around seven will lead to a conviction (RAINN, n.d.). Insensitive treatment by members of the CJS magnify victims’ feelings of powerlessness, guilt, and shame. There is research outlined in Grubb and Turner (2012) that shows how attribution of rape myths have impacted this entire process, including the number of convictions and type of sentences. Smith and Skinner (2017) demonstrated how rape myths are still common in the courts and how they impact the outcome of court cases. The CJS has recently begun to address how victims of sexual violence are treated.