Legal Remedies:Numerous laws are in place around sexual violence (from rape to sexual harassment).
Numerous laws are in place around sexual violence (from rape to sexual harassment). Yet in many cases, victims are required by law to prove their victimization. Although this can be somewhat easier in the case of rape, most sexual violence ends up as “he said, she said,” especially in cases of harassment and stalking. Victims need evidence that supports their case, and the lack of evidence beyond their own word makes it difficult to trigger legal protections and systems to help victims. While in the case of rape there is often physical evidence, the notion of what is considered consent is also in flux. In the case of harassment, it must be considered “severe or pervasive” in order to be actionable (Webber Nuñez, 2017). If an organization has a culture of harassment and discrimination, the perpetrator may have additional layers of protection, such as cases at Fox News, NPR, Uber, The Weinstein company, and many others.
Calls for equality have increased the perceptions of victims as believable. Younger people, in general and within the CJS, are more likely than people of an older generation to believe a victim of sexual violence (Klettke, Hallford, & Mellor, 2016). The inclusion of victims’ advocates within the CJS has increased reporting of sexual violence, improved police response to victims, and has decreased victims distress levels (Campbell, 2006). Victims’ advocates and researchers have also gained insights into why victims’ memories might not be as accurate, which is an important factor in having the victims be credible. Advocates are pushing for CJS professionals to understand and integrate this body of research into their considerations of cases.
Advocates have put forward several alternative means of strengthening harassment laws. The first is expanding the use of systemic harassment claims (Webber Nuñez, 2017). The second limits the use of confidential settlements and mandatory arbitration agreements. Issues with these have come to light recently in the U.S. gymnastics case and the Fox News cases, where victims are not able to report or discuss their victimization to anyone because of these agreements. Victims of Larry Nassar had reported his assaults on them for decades, but victims were not allowed to talk to others about their assaults because of these arbitration agreements. This allowed both USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University to protect Nassar, leading to a high victim count.
Larry Nassar was accused of molesting at least 250 girls and young women starting as far back as 1992, using his role as the doctor for both the USA Gymnastics as well as Michigan State University Gymnastics teams. In 2018, he was found guilty and sentenced to up to 175 years. Some women who reported him were given money to sign a sign a nondisclosure agreement, limiting their ability to report him. A number of gymnasts joined in the #MeToo movement, including Olympic medal winners, bringing greater attention to the cultural issues within the sport that allowed for the abuse to happen. Image: USA Gymnastics Team Rio 2016. Authored by: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USA_Gymnastics_Team_Rio_2016-08-04.jpg. Licence: CC BY 3.0
Burke (founder of the #MeToo movement) has made several suggestions for changes to improve the CJS and society’s response to sexual violence, including timely processing of rape kits, improving the vetting of people who work with children to reduce child sexual abuse, creating or updating policies around sexual violence thereby reducing the tolerance of sexual violence, and creating clear pathways in all industries for reporting of sexual violence. The wave of support for these changes will hopefully lead to further resolution of some of the issues, as well as lead to a cultural shift.