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Victims of rape must decide whether to file a police report, and many victims decide not to report the rape to the police. The literature on the associations between demographic and individual factors and reporting rape to the police is limited. Here, we investigated the associations between demographic and individual factors (education, socioeconomic status, age, native country, years lived in Finland, gender, sexual orientation, relationship status, close persons, substance use, and mental disorder) and police reporting in a Finnish sample of rape victims (N = 191) who visited the Helsinki Seri Support Center. We collected data through an online survey. We found some evidence that victims with a university degree might be less likely to report than those with a vocational qualification. None of the other factors measured were robustly associated with reporting. It is possible that the services provided by the Seri Support Center successfully mitigate otherwise encountered obstacles to reporting. The current study was the first to investigate this topic in Finland. The practical implications of these findings are discussed, and the value of support services highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This issue of Nordic Psychology covers a range of topics including maternal executive functioning, rape victims' decision to file police reports, strengthening parenting among refugees, adolescent social anxiety and depressive symptoms, misogynistic attitudes, self-compassion in patients with eating disorders, and parental reflective functioning in adults with personality disorders. The articles provide valuable insights into these areas of research and offer practical implications for support services. The findings highlight the importance of understanding diverse perspectives and addressing the specific needs of different populations. [Extracted from the article]

The necessity of providing required and necessary protection for the victims of crime is a matter of concerns in Sri Lanka today. Since 1995, several penal law amendments have been introduced to the legal system to strengthen the law relating rape and provide the justice- including protection- to rape victims. In 2015, the Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act No 4 of 2015 (APVCW) enacted with the purpose of ensuring the protection, providing assistance and support to the victims of crime. Even in such scenario, the victims of rape are (re) victimized in the hands of the officials of agencies of the criminal justice system in the country today. Therefore, this study intends to overview the existing substantive law relating to rape and the relevant procedural laws in that regard in order to critically evaluate the dilemmas in those laws which cause rape victims to be re-victimized in the criminal justice process. The paper is mainly based on secondary resources including, domestic penal statutes, international instruments, books, journal articles, web documents, decided cases etc. A brief statistical anlaysis of the offense of rape and observations and opinion of author based on personal interviews conducted with the officials of the criminal justice system in Sri Lanka and rape victims are also included to achieve the objectives of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About 40% of rape victims develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within three months after the assault. Considering the high personal and societal impact of PTSD, there is an urgent need for early (i.e. within three months after the incident) interventions to reduce post-traumatic stress in victims of rape. To assess the effectiveness of early intervention with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress, feelings of guilt and shame, sexual dysfunction, and other psychological dysfunction (i.e. general psychopathology, anxiety, depression, and dissociative symptoms) in victims of rape. This randomized controlled trial included 57 victims of rape, who were randomly allocated to either two sessions of EMDR therapy or treatment as usual ('watchful waiting') between 14 and 28 days post-rape. Psychological symptoms were assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 8 and 12 weeks post-rape. Linear mixed models and ANCOVAs were used to analyse differences between conditions over time. Within-group effect sizes of the EMDR condition (d = 0.89 to 1.57) and control condition (d = 0.79 to 1.54) were large, indicating that both conditions were effective. However, EMDR therapy was not found to be more effective than watchful waiting in reducing post-traumatic stress symptoms, general psychopathology, depression, sexual dysfunction, and feelings of guilt and shame. Although EMDR therapy was found to be more effective than watchful waiting in reducing anxiety and dissociative symptoms in the post-treatment assessment, this effect disappeared over time. The findings do not support the notion that early intervention with EMDR therapy in victims of rape is more effective than watchful waiting for the reduction of psychological symptoms, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Further research on the effectiveness of early interventions, including watchful waiting, for this specific target group is needed. Two sessions of EMDR therapy between two and four weeks post-rape were no more effective than treatment as usual in reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress and other psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of comic book narratives in creating awareness and influencing attitudes about how society treats rape survivors, specifically in the Indian context. The gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi in 2012 inspired an Indian-American filmmaker to author the comic book Priya's Shakti, which was launched at the Mumbai Comicon in December 2014. The book uses Hindu mythology in its narrative to call for a change in existing belief systems about rape and rape victims. Twenty-four in-depth and ethnographic go-along interviews of informed participants were conducted to understand how they perceive the role of comics such as Priya's Shakti in affecting popular awareness and attitudes about rape and what approaches they feel are best suited to use comic books to bring about sustainable social change. Results indicated comics can play a significant role in creating awareness, especially among the younger audience but that changing attitudes is a more complex issue, demanding the active and engaged participation of other stakeholders. A culture-centred approach was the key emerging theme. Respondents believed comic books could be used to reach out to children in schools and to rural audiences via multiple communication methods but that engaged and involved participation of community stakeholders was essential if comic books were to drive home socially relevant messages and affect awareness and attitudes about rape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a steady increase in the number of rapes reported to the police in Norway during the past two decades. In this paper we examine factors associated with attitudes toward rape (as measured with 11 items from the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale) and attribution of responsibility to rape victims using a community sample of Norwegian women and men. Analyses of 475 returned questionnaires (32.6% response rate) suggest that men's attitudes toward rape were moderately less disapproving than women's, and that men attributed slightly more responsibility to rape victims than did women. Analysis showed that classical sexism was the strongest predictor of attitudes toward rape, followed by acceptance of intimate partner violence toward women and that rape attitudes were the prime predictor of attribution of responsibility to rape victims. Although Scandinavian countries are consistently ranked among the World's most gender egalitarian societies, the findings from our study do not differ from those from the North American culture with regard to the strengths of known group differences and attitudinal correlates to rape attitudes and attribution of responsibility. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a population-based survey in 2013 in Kampala, Uganda, to examine violence and mental health outcomes among self-settled male refugees from the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Male DRC refugees aged 18+ years were sampled through respondent-driven sampling. Key interview domains included demographics, experiences of sexual and nonsexual violence, social support, PTSD, depression and suicide ideation. Data analysis was weighted to generate population-level estimates. We sampled 718 men (mean age: 33 years), most of whom had lived in North or South Kivu. Nonsexual violence, such as beatings (79.4%) and torture (63.8%), was frequent. A quarter (26.2%) had been raped; 49.9% of rape victims had been raped on multiple occasions, and 75.7% of rape victims had been gang raped. We estimated 52.8% had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); 44.4% reported suicidal ideation. Numerous traumas were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with PTSD such as rape (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.82), war-related injuries (aOR = 2.90) or having been exposed to >15 traumas (compared to ≤10; aOR = 6.89). Traumata are frequent experiences in this self-settled male refugee population and are often accompanied by adverse mental health outcomes. Screening for trauma and adverse mental health outcomes and providing targeted services are paramount to improve these refugees' lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined mock jurors’ judgments in a rape case that was either prototypical (late-night assault by a stranger in a public place) or non-prototypical (daytime assault by an acquaintance in a private home). We also varied the psychological harm experienced by the victim as a result of the rape (mild anxiety or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)). We hypothesized that participants’ expectations regarding the level of harm the victim is likely to experience would mediate the effect of harm level on ratings of the victim’s credibility, and this indirect effect would be contingent on the prototypicality of the case. In a pilot experiment we demonstrated that people expect prototypical rape cases to be more traumatic for victims than non-prototypical cases. In the main experiment, and as predicted, participants in the Prototypical condition expected the victim to develop PTSD more than mild anxiety, but Non-Prototypical condition participants expected the opposite. In addition, a level of harm that was consistent rather than inconsistent with their expectations led participants to rate the victim as more credible; they also rated her as less responsible for what happened, and they thought the defendant was more likely guilty and that he should be incarcerated for a longer period of time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Rape victim testimony may seem incongruent with the 'real rape' stereotype and appear more consistent with typical consensual sex. This research investigated whether having victims describe stereotype-consistent events early in their testimony guides jurors to construct narratives of the evidence that are consistent with rape and depict the defendant as guilty. In Study 1, a convenience sample (N = 38, 65.79% female, 34.21% male) watched video testimony in which the victim described the details of the assault first or last, with participants verbalising their thoughts about the testimony as they watched. We then recorded participants' spoken narratives about the alleged rape, which community members (N = 418, 41.15% female, 58.61% male, 0.24% gender-fluid) evaluated in Study 2. In Study 1, participants' thoughts in the rape-first condition suggested they attended more to the victim's non-verbal cues to deception than the events described. Consistent with this, participants in Study 2 rated the narratives of those in the rape-first condition as less complete. However, counter to predictions, participants' perceptions of the narratives as typical of rape did not differ based on condition. Further, participants were less likely to find the defendant guilty after listening to the narratives of those in the rape-first condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of eugenics took an exclusionary and abusive turn in the first decades of the twentieth century, when prominent lawyers, scientists and first-wave feminists championed the cause. Indiana's 1907 eugenicist ruling was adopted by thirty-two states, and consequently forced sterilizations were performed on whomever lawmakers considered unworthy of bearing children. The most notorious case of sterilization, Buck v. Bell, was performed on Carrie Buck, a victim of rape. K. D. Alden's novel, A Mother's Promise (2021), is a fictional rendering of the story, which depicts the fractures of American legal and social structures. By drawing Ruth-Ann Riley's portrait, Buck's fictional counterpart, it convincingly exposes America's restrictive practices. This paper aims at exploring, through a feminist perspective, Riley's struggle against overbearing eugenicist practices, performed by pseudo-scientists and lawyers who utilized eugenics to promote their professional and economic interests. Additionally, based on Foucault's theory of power-knowledge relations, the paper demonstrates how, within this context, power and knowledge sustain each other. Finally, it relates the ethical issues concerning misogynistic practices and objectifying women's bodies that were at stake one hundred years ago to twenty-first-century feminist discourse with respect to the #MeToo movement and the overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol and Other Drug Facilitated Sexual Violence (AODFSV), known as "drink-spiking," is the administration of alcohol or other drugs to someone without their consent, with the intent to harm them. Investigation into portrayals of AODFSV in the Australian news media is needed. Using feminist critical discourse analysis, this paper investigated the portrayal of AODFSV in the Australian news media in the past ten years. 226 articles were included for analysis and three themes were identified. Firstly, "how the media constructs the drink spiking narrative," uses the "cautionary tale" that warns women about the dangers of the night-time economy and reinforces and perpetuates victim-blaming and rape myths. Secondly, "how the media normalises the drink spiking discourse" focuses on the substances used in drink spiking, the settings, the construction of the perpetrator and the victim as well as the depictions of sexual violence. Thirdly, "how the media shapes responses from emergency services" including police and hospital staff. This paper highlights the way the media creates and reinforces drink-spiking discourse, which constructs drink-spiking as individual behaviour rather than a culturally embedded issue. Such ideology perpetuates victim blaming and rape myths. We argue for critical and thoughtful reporting on AODFSV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study assessed the contribution of gender, age, education and traumatic experiences on attitudes toward rape victims. The Attitudes Toward Rape Victims Scale (ARVS) was completed by 312 website visitors who entered the Danish website: www.voldtaegt.dk. The site is designed to meet the needs of rape victims in acute distress as well as the needs of the public and of professionals. The analysis of ARVS showed a three-dimensional factor structure. Males had less favourable attitudes toward rape victims than did women; but attitudes became more favourable as age and education increased. The experience of rape, accidents and losing someone influenced the attitudes in a favourable direction. The data analysis is equivalent to the more traditionally collected samples, which gives credibility to the use of website-based studies of close also attitudes. The Danish sample had more favourable attitudes toward rape victims than a Singaporean student sample, a US male student sample and an Australian student sample, but less favourable than a US female student sample. The ARVS seems to be a valuable and sensitive instrument for crosscultural research in victimology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined victims' attitudes to rape and rape-reporting behaviour. There were 36 Rape Victims, and approximately half reported their rape to the police (Rape Victim – Report) and half did not report their rape to the police (Rape Victim – Not Report). There were 42 Crime Victims, and approximately half reported the crime to the police (Crime Victim – Report) and half did not (Crime Victim – Not Report). Participants filled out a questionnaire which consisted of six scales: Rape Myth Acceptance, Just World Beliefs, Attitudes towards the Police, Locus of Control, the Pro-Victim scale and the Anti-Rapist scale. The results showed that Rape Victims-Not Report had significantly higher levels of Rape Myth Acceptance and Internal Locus of Control than Rape Victims-Report. However, all rape victims reported similar levels of Just World Beliefs and Attitudes towards the Police. Rape Myth Acceptance was significantly related to Just World Beliefs for crime victims but not for rape victims. Finally, crime victims had higher levels of Internal Locus of Control than rape victims. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the experiences of gay male rape victims. It discusses findings from empirical studies of police attitudes along with an increasing number of studies that have examined the experiences of these victims. It also considers social attitudes to this group of victims and the way in which those attitudes impact legal responses to the problem of male rape. Further, this paper identifies three barriers to the recognition of male rape: denial of the problem, hierarchies of suffering, and victim-blaming. Finally, it concludes by considering two possible strategies for improving the treatment of male sexual victimisation within the criminal justice system in England and Wales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines attitudes towards female and male rape victims (ARVS, Ward, 1988) among UK medical students (N = 240; 120 females and 120 males). The study's hypotheses, namely, that male respondents will view rape victims more negatively than female respondents and that male victims will be viewed more negatively than female victims, were supported. Implications of the findings in relation to the inclusion of sexual violence teaching in UK medical undergraduate curricula, and suggestions for further research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of parental bonding as a resilience or a risk factor for psychopathology after rape. Women rape victims were assessed regarding the perception of parental bonding in childhood, acute posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, acute stress disorder (ASD), and clinical severity. The perception of having less affective parents was correlated with severity, and ASD was more frequent in participants with less affectionate and more controlling fathers. Perceived support was associated with clinical impairment. These findings could help in identifying those who need early interventions and highlight the importance of social and emotional support in facing traumatic situations, reinforcing aspects of the parent–child relationship that generate adults more apt to face adverse situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nineteen rape victims who had given evidence in court in English courts were interviewed. Questions concerned their examination in court, their perceptions of the criminal justice system, particularly criminal court processes, and the perceived utility of ‘special measures’ to facilitate giving evidence. Participants believed that prosecution lawyers generally did not accuse them of lying, attack what they said, put their character in doubt, put words in their mouth or use trick or leading questions. Defence lawyers were perceived to be significantly more likely to use these techniques. Participants reported that they felt they understood what was going on and, importantly, felt that they were reasonably able to give accurate evidence. They generally showed high levels of satisfaction with the way they had been treated, and positive attitudes towards measures to make giving evidence less stressful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

72,000 men in England and Wales are victims of sexual violence each year. While sexual violence against men is slowly becoming recognised as a sociological and criminological issue because victims are steadily coming forward due to changes in policy and practice, gradually improving the reporting rate that causes sociologists and criminologists to take notice of a necessity to address the issue, there still however remains a noticeable gap regarding the context, contours, and consequences of policing male rape within England. This paper makes some attempt to fill in this lacuna, using data including police officers who completed in-depth interviews and qualitative questionnaires (53 officers in total). This article focuses on several themes that emerged from the data, such as police insensitivity/secondary victimisation; police treatment of male rape; and police training, inter alia. It explores police officers' level of comprehension relating to the topic of male rape and, in turn, evaluates police training (or lack thereof) provided to help with understanding male rape. It considers the implications of poor police practice with regards to male rape. The results show that there are some police discourses that suggest that only women can be victims of sexual violence, not men, shaping how some officers think about and respond to male rape victims in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blame assignment and well-being among women who had been raped (N = 85) were investigated as a function of counterfactual thinking. The more upward counterfactuals (i.e., ways the rape might have been avoided) victims concurred with where some aspect of the self was mutated, the poorer their well-being. The effect of such upward counterfactual thinking on well-being was mediated by increases in self-blame. The amount of blame assigned to both the rapist and society did not mediate the effect of counterfactual thinking on well-being. These observed effects of counterfactual thinking on blame assignment are consistent with those obtained with uninvolved observers and with victims of other types of trauma. Models testing other possible relationship orderings were not supported. Implications for intervention strategies with rape victims are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research has shown that date rape continues to remain a major instrument in rape cases. Moreover, hostile sexism and victim blaming are significant predictors of acceptance of rape on dates. The current study assesses whether rape myth acceptance, victim blaming and hostile sexism significantly predict acceptance towards rape on a date among Pakistani adults. A cross-sectional research design was employed in the study with a sample of 330 participants selected through a sensitivity analysis based on G power analysis with 95% confidence intervals. The findings showed that this sample was sufficient to achieve the desired effect sizes. Data analysis was done using Pearson product moment correlation, hierarchical regression, independent sample t test and moderated mediation analysis via AMOS. The results showed that all study variables had acceptable levels of reliability. It was also found that hostile sexism, victim blaming and rape myth acceptance significantly and positively predicted acceptance of rape perpetrated by a male on a date. The findings further showed higher levels of victim blaming moderated the mediating effect of hostile sexism on the association between rape myth acceptance and acceptance of rape perpetrated by a male on a date. It is thus concluded that hostile sexism, victim blaming and rape myth acceptance significantly predict acceptance of rape on a date. It was also found that males have a higher tendency towards hostile sexism, victim blaming and rape myth acceptance and thus may be more likely to view the perpetrators of rape as being more credible in comparison to the victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on a study, which replicates and extends the research concerning the effects of rape, with an emphasis on somatic disorders. According to the author, he hypothesized that the frequency and severity of somatic complaints suffered by rape victims is correlated significantly with the victim's perception of the rape. The author anticipated that the frequency and severity of somatic complaints of rape victims would be better predicted by the perceived severity of the rape attack than by the actual severity of the rape attack, as measured by reported features of the recalled attack. Some women who have been raped experience depression, nervousness, and anxiety; neurocirculatory symptoms; and changes in sexual behavior and satisfaction. Also some sociologists noted that victims of rape are more likely to report psychosomatic symptoms following the assault than they were to report suffering before the assault, and these symptoms increase as the severity of the assault increases. Subjective ratings of life events have been found to predict subsequent depressive symptomatology. Subjects were more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms if they perceived their previous life events to be undesirable. The perception of an event, not merely the occurrence of the life event itself, may influence stress levels, thereby influencing somatic distress.

Rape victims can benefit from trauma-informed approaches when reporting rape to police. Police interviewing skill can prevent survivor re-victimization while eliciting useful crime statements. However, rape myth acceptance and police culture may pose obstacles to a trauma-informed approach. Client empowerment, demystification, trigger reduction, and expressed concern for victim safety can be implemented by police agencies. Interdisciplinary collaboration, combating sexual harassment, gender balancing, emotional debriefing of officers, accountability to victims, new reporting methods, and advanced training protocols are elements of a trauma-informed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to determine the prevalence and pattern of genital injuries among the female adolescents alleged to have been raped that presented at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH) from January 1 2013 to August 31 2014. All of the adolescents alleged to have been raped that presented within the study period were studied, and the relevant data were extracted from their records. The data were analysed using the Epi info statistical software, Version 7. There were 78 adolescents alleged to have been raped within the study period. They were all female, with a mean age of 14.12 ± 5.6 years. The majority of them were virgins (n = 47, 60.3%). Five of them (6.4%) had multiple perpetrators. The prevalence of genital injuries was 44.9%, while the genital injury frequency rate was 1.2. Laceration was the commonest injury type, while the hymen was the most affected site (n = 15; 35.7%). Being a virgin at the time of the rape was significantly associated with the presence of genital injury (p < .001). This suggests that the absence of genital injury is not sufficient evidence to rule out the possibility of rape. Impact Statement What is already known on this subject? Rape is a global problem with a severe negative impact on the victim. Apart from the associated psychological and emotional trauma, a genital injury could result. However, it appears that so much emphasis are usually placed on the presence of a genital injury in establishing an incident of rape in the developing world. Genital injuries seem to be the main substantive evidence of rape in the developing world including Nigeria. Convicting the perpetrator of rape in law court is usually difficult in the absence of genital injuries after medical examination. What the results of this study add? The result of this study shows that a genital injury is not be found in all cases of an alleged rape, especially among the adolescents. In fact, more than half of the rape survivors had no genital injury. What the implications are of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? The absence of a genital injury does not exclude the possibility of a rape, neither does its presence confirm a rape, as genital injuries can occur even in consensual sex. Adopting a modern method of establishing a rape case is very important for the provision of concrete evidence in court that will enable the proper and sound dispensation of justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is estimated that more than 40% of rape victims develops a posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a statistic that is relatively high compared to other types of trauma. PTSD can affect the victims’ psychological, sexual, and physical health. Therefore, there is an urgent need for early interventions to prevent the onset of PTSD in this target group. Objective: This randomised controlled trial (RCT) examines the efficacy of early Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy aimed to reduce the severity of posttraumatic stress symptoms in victims of recent rape. Methods: Subjects (N = 34) are individuals of 16 years and older who present themselves within 7 days post-rape at one of the four participating Sexual Assault Centres in the Netherlands. The intervention consists of two sessions of EMDR therapy between day 14 and 28 post-rape, while the control group receives treatment as usual, consisting of careful monitoring of stress reactions by a case-manager across two contacts during 1-month post-rape. Baseline assessment, posttreatment assessment and follow-up assessments at 8 and 12-weeks post-rape will be used to assess the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms. In addition, the efficacy of the intervention on psychological and sexual functioning will be determined. Linear mixed model analysis will be used to explore the differences within and between the EMDR group and control group at the various time points. Conclusions: The results of this RCT may help the dissemination and application of evidence-based preventative treatments for PTSD after rape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study concerning the response of college students to disclosure of date/acquaintance rape victims. Relationship of the victim to the person to whom the rape was disclosed; Results of open-ended questions; Responses to disclosure.

Although the International Military Tribunal for the Far East condemned and prosecuted rape crimes, there was only limited justice for victims of militarised sexual abuse. This goes especially for the majority of victimised Chinese women. The court's focus was on the so-called Rape of Nanking rather than on the sexual enslavement in military brothels. After the Second World War, the stories of the Chinese women used as military sex slaves by the Japanese military were soon excluded from the heroic Chinese master narrative. Outrage over mass rape was not primarily concerned with violence towards women, but rather with the 'humiliation' of men as nationalist subjects. In this article, I will focus on the Liji Alley Former Comfort Station Exhibition Hall in Nanjing and analyse how the museum moves in politically contested arenas and how activism and suffering is represented in the exhibition. How are the personal stories of former 'comfort women' used to evoke emotional reactions in the visitors and to what end? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the impact of treating rape victims had on a female therapist. Inclusion of work by therapist's colleagues; Comparison of two types of treatment, Prolonged Exposure (PE) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT); Explanations on these treatments; Challenges faced by therapist.

Rape survivors engage in more risky sexual behavior and report more sexual dissatisfaction and dysfunction than those without a rape history. However, little research has examined possible mechanisms to explain the relation between rape and sexual health outcomes. Therefore, the current study examined sexual motives as one mechanism to explain why survivors engage in more risk behavior and report lower sexual satisfaction. We hypothesized that rape survivors would be more likely to report engaging in sex for a variety of potentially maladaptive motives, including to reduce their negative affect, improve their self-esteem, and obtain approval or avoid censure from their peers and sexual partners. Engaging in sex for these reasons was then hypothesized to mediate the relation between rape history and sexual risk behavior as well as sexual satisfaction. These hypotheses were tested among 1,534 sexually active college women. Results supported that all four sexual motives mediated the relation between rape history and risky sexual behavior and sexual satisfaction. In both cases, the size of the standardized indirect effect was larger for the models including the two affect regulation motives as mediators, as compared to the models including peer and partner approval motives as mediators. Thus, survivors who endorse affect regulation motives for sex are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior and more likely to report feeling dissatisfied with their sex lives. This suggests that sexual motives may be an important area to target for future sexual health research and intervention programs targeting survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the bodies of male rape victims as the ‘other’ are problematized. The social and cultural constructions of male rape within a policing context are examined since the police play a major role in impeding the progress of male rape cases. The author draws on police data, generated from interviews and qualitative questionnaires with the police, to illustrate the problems with policing male rape in England, UK. While the author provides empirical data, sociological, cultural, and post-structural theoretical frameworks largely inform it. It is argued that the bodies of male rape victims are positioned in inferior positions, whereby their bodies are metaphorically and symbolically marked as ‘abnormal’, ‘deviant’, and the ‘other’. Through social and power relations, their bodies are tainted, which reinforces gender and social norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractWhile applauded as important for survivors, the #MeToo movement is criticized for ignoring survivors of color. Interviews with 41 rape victim advocates reveal that they perceive a racial bias in the movement. Eighteen advocates note that an African American woman started the movement, but it did not garner attention until taken over by White survivors and celebrities. Advocates perceive that the movement does not give victims of color a voice, and they are not believed (15 advocates discuss). According to 13 advocates, the movement reflects societal racial bias and blame of survivors of color. Understanding advocates’ perceptions could improve the recognition and inclusion of survivors of color, not only by the #MeToo movement but also in general sexual victimization awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the relevance of rape myths in police officers' decisions to press charges in sexual assault cases, using a random selection of 300 sexual assault cases reported to and cleared by police. Using logistic regression, we examined the impact of variables associated with erroneous notions of 'real rape' and 'real rape victims' On police decisions to press charges. The results showed that several variables associated with stereotypic representations of rape predicted police processing of sexual assault cases, suggesting that rape myths may play a role in police charging practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the impact of jailhouse informant (JI) testimony on mock-jurors' perceptions of an alcohol-facilitated rape trial. Male and female participants (N = 186) read a rape trial summary of an adult female after attending a concert. The trial varied whether the victim was intoxicated or sober and whether a JI testified that the defendant confessed to the rape. The results indicated that participants were more pro-victim (e.g., voted guilty more) when the JI testified than no JI testimony, and that women were more pro-victim than men. Although victim intoxication negatively impacted perceptions of the defendant, it did not influence verdicts. The results are discussed concerning the legal implications of presenting JI testimony and factors that influence perceptions of rape victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual violence cases in Adamawa State have been frequently reported. Yet, the interrogation of the phenomenon has not received adequate scholarly attention. Unfortunately, unusual high incidents of rape were recorded in the state in 2020 prompting an examination of the trend and pattern of incidents of rape in the state. Data were collected from police records of incidents of rape and interviews were granted to perpetrators, police officers and parents/guardians of victims. The study shows that the highest cases of rape were recorded in July, and Yola North Local Government Area of the state recorded the highest number of incidents of rape. All the perpetrators are male whose ages are within the range of 18 and 33 years while the majority of the victims are female, mostly minors. Covid-19 outbreak and the containment mechanisms employed in the state were the major factors in the escalation of rape cases. The lockdown policy of the state created situations like loss of jobs, dwindling economic resources and shut-down of state apparatuses of security especially the police which increased motivations for offenders to commit the crime of rape as well as contributed to the vulnerability of the victims of rape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ana Mendieta's Rape Scene (1973) offers a visceral exploration of sexual, gendered, and racialized violence. Mendieta's re-enactment of the rape of Sarah Ann Ottens, creates a purposefully traumatic, "triggering" scene for her audience to discover. In "returning to the scene of the crime," Mendieta produces a critical methodology that facilitates a more complex interaction with the traumatic aftermath of gendered and racialized violence, one that refuses and questions the paltry validation and legitimization of gendered and racialized violence by the law and legal systems. In this article, I argue that Mendieta's reenactment produces a legal excess, intervening in the juridical distribution of the norm, where the performance disavows the normative, regulative impulses associated with 'law and order' by allowing other, alternative traumatic affects into the room, ones which escape how crime scenes, and the law more broadly, try to regulate the emotional and affective aftermath of gendered and racialized violence. Through the performance's triggering affective surplus, Mendieta draws us towards the site of her own racialized flesh, which, I argue, stages a conversation about the law as a system that both produces and naturalizes the violence that inheres in the gendering and racialization of the body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article conceptually and theoretically explores, in particular, gay male rape victims' experiences and silences. This is done through examining and bringing together empirical findings from different studies relating to gender, sexuality, masculinity, police and policing, and, more broadly, sexual violence. The theoretical backdrop for this article is hegemonic masculinity to help elucidate gay male rape victims' experiences and silences. This article will also take into consideration social attitudes to these types of victims and the different ways wherein such attitudes discourage men who have been raped from coming forward to not only report, but also to seek help, whether that help comes from family, friends, and relatives or from the criminal justice system. Rather than considering all types of male rape victims, this article will predominantly focus on gay male rape victims to understand, more specifically, gay masculinity and how it differs to hegemonic masculinity. In short, this article recognizes that these two masculinities can be antithetical, but they can also have some commonalities. The author argues that gay male rape victims' enactment of gay and hegemonic masculinities is in constant negotiation, flux and fluidity through social and power relations, shaped by social structures, institutions, scripts and ideologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author examines qualitative data with British police to explore police interactions with male rape victims, and the effects and outcomes of such interactions. Drawing on British police data collected from interviews and questionnaires, the author theorizes the data using sociological and Foucauldian perspectives to increase the understanding of the social construction of male rape in the policing context. From this theoretical framework, it is argued that police encounters with male victims of rape are on the whole negative based on their discursive ideas and knowledges about male rape. From the qualitative data presented and analyzed, themes of power, discourse, culture, values, norms, and beliefs emerge. It is also argued that male rape is culturally constructed as deviant and placed alongside other forms of discourse personified as deviant, such as queerness and mental health, among the police. As a consequence, male rape is symbolizing abnormality for it disrupts some officers’ constructions and discourses on what sexual violence actually entails. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the oldest myths to confound the achievement of justice for victims of sexual violence is that 'genuine' rape victims complain immediately, loudly and officially. Dismantling this myth—or at least banishing it from the court room—has been a high priority of the modern era of rape/sexual assault law reform. How successful has this attempt been? This article reports on the initial findings of a transcript analysis study of more than 30 rape trials finalised in the County Court of Victoria between 2013 and 2020. We discuss the multiple variations on 'delay' that continue to feature prominently in the cross-examination of complainants in rape trials. We also examine the operation of s 52 of the Jury Directions Act 2015 (Vic) which provides for a mandatory direction if, at any point during the trial, the judge considers that there is evidence suggestive of delay. Ostensibly one of the strongest corrective mechanisms currently operating in sexual offence trials in Australia, we discuss the unevenness of s 52's operation, and consider the implications for reliance on jury directions more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with narratives of rape in Swedish newspapers between 1990 and 2015. Though perpetuating myths and stereotypes about rape, rapists and rape victims, the main argument is that the narratives of rape in the news are diverse. This diversity is analysed in terms of different genres—narratives of "the lonely pervert"; "the sex slavery rape"; "the celebrity rape"; and "the suburb rape." Genre will be used as a cultural analytical means to elaborate on the meanings of news reports of rape and the societal functions and effects of these meanings. It is exemplified how some genres form debates that push changes in national legislation or encourage proactive engagement in city planning on the local level, whereas others are characterised by questioning or justification. In the case of the celebrity rape, the sex slavery rape and the lonely pervert rape these genres produce narratives that hide patriarchal structures by "monstering" the perpetrator or by questioning the very existence of the specific rape. In the case of the suburb rapes the patriarchal structure is hidden behind a discussion of other structural problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A common claim is that rape victims are blamed for the crime because they have violated gender roles. We tested this idea by examining whether the relationship between traditional attitudes about gender roles and victim blaming is observed when the victim's gender role violation is not followed by rape. We also examined whether participants with traditional attitudes about casual sex were more likely to engage in victim blaming than their "liberal" counterparts. College students (Study 1: N = 348; Study 2: N = 239) were presented with vignettes that ended in either rape, robbery, assault, homicide, or accident, or had no outcome. Participants with traditional attitudes about gender roles did not assign more blame to victims than liberal participants unless the victim's behavior was followed by rape. In contrast, participants with traditional attitudes about casual sex were more likely to blame victims regardless of the outcome. The pattern suggests that the relationship between traditional attitudes about gender roles and victim blaming is not be due to the victim's violation of gender roles. In addition, victim blaming is due, in part, to the negative attitudes of some students to casual sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the author investigated differences in Japanese and American college students' tendencies to advise a hypothetical rape victim (their sister) to seek help from police, family members, or mental health professionals. Japanese students tended to encourage the victim to seek help from her family members, whereas American students tended to encourage her to seek help from police and mental health counselors. Cross-cultural discrepancies were marked by the following factors: (a) feelings of shame moderated advice to seek help from police; (b) minimization of rape mediated the likelihood to advise the involvement of police and mental health counselors; (c) attitudes toward mental health counselors mediated advice to seek help from them; and (d) the type of rape (stranger vs. date rape) moderated advice to report the crime to police. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines court rulings regarding the protection of rape victim's privacy suits from media identification in the United States. Importance of balancing individual rights and collective good in privacy suits; Impact of disclosing names on public awareness of social issues; Account on the case regarding the publication of the rape victims names in the television station.

Culturally constructed ideals and stereotypes are part of collective sense-making processes. One such stereotype is Nils Christie's ideal victim. The present study discusses how the ideal victim shares key features with another cultural stereotype: the damsel in distress. Moreover, the study addresses attempts at subverting such stereotypes, which can be found in the women avengers of rape-revenge narratives. Studies of rape-revenge narratives have elucidated how such stories (re)imagine rape victimhood and survival in Western and Nordic culture, in ways that question the ideal victim qua damsel and her underlying patriarchal ideologies from a feminist perspective. However, such critique has led to the creation of other stereotypes and ideologically complex and even problematic portrayals of rape and victimization. Through a semiotic analysis of portrayals of a popular rape-revenge protagonist, Lisbeth Salander, the present study discusses how different ideologies surface, converse, and collide in fictional narratives of rape, survival, victimhood, revenge, and retribution. The study finds that while embodying resistance to the damsel, Lisbeth Salander also embodies aspects of the patriarchal ideologies that keep the damsel in place, thus creating an ideologically complex image. This creates a space for questioning the cultural understanding of rape, victimhood, and resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathy with a rape victim was examined based on knowing a rape victim (not oneself), personal sexual victimization experience, and participant gender. Undergraduates (n = 531) at a midsize public university in the Northeast United States completed the Rape-Victim Empathy Scale, the Sexual Experiences Survey-Short Form Victimization, and questions regarding knowing a rape victim. Empathy scores were greater for those who reported knowing a rape victim than for those who did not. Women with personal sexual victimization experience reported greater empathy than men with personal sexual victimization experience and all nonvictims, but no differences emerged among female nonvictims and all men. Findings suggest that knowing a rape victim may provide some degree of vicarious experience with rape that helps individuals better understand a rape victim's perspective, and factors influencing rape empathy among men and nonvictims needs more attention in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jurors are less likely to believe a victim of rape when the events she describes are inconsistent with the rape stereotype and appear more consistent with what occurs in consensual sex. This research investigated whether presenting stereotype-consistent events early in a victim's testimony can lead jurors to evaluate the other events described as depicting rape. In Study 1, a convenience sample recruited at a university (N = 217) watched a video testimony in which the assault was presented first or last. Participants also evaluated the degree to which the events described depicted rape or consensual sex as they heard them unfold. Results showed that participants who watched the assault-first testimony categorised most of the testimony as depicting rape. However, there were no differences between conditions in participants' rating of guilt. In Study 2, we aimed to replicate the findings of Study 1 using community members (N = 225) and investigate whether varying the order of events impacted memory of the testimony and organisation of the events into a coherent story. The results of Study 1 replicated and those presented with the assault first remembered fewer details and took longer to create a story. Recommendations for trial interventions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, about one hundred rape victims arrive annually to the emergency units for sample taking and care. It is believed that the number of victims is manifold to that of the victims seeking examinations. The rape victim care chain was constructed by a multiprofessional task force, consisting of representatives of the specialized health care, the primary health care, the authorities, organizations, and the Lutheran Church. The aim was to guarantee all rape victims an equal mental survival and holistic health care, based on the most recent scientific data. As a result of the effort, uniform hospital district principles for care management were reached, for encountering patients, examinations, sample taking, and transorganizational care. The care chain is available on the internet to all actors in the area. The instructions have been centralized to one server, which facilitates their maintenance and use. Information on the care chain has also been published in public media for the benefit of the inhabitants, with the aim of encouraging victims to seek examinations and care, as well as to improve their judicial status in the light of criminal law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conviction rate for rape has dropped in the UK from one in three in 1977 to one in thirteen in 1999 and statistics show that only one in five cases ever reach trial (Home Office, 2002a). This study explored experiences of rape with respect to the UK legal system through semistructured interviews with victims, police officers, and experts in the provision of victim support. Interviews were thematically analyzed; emergent themes suggest that the legal system and society continue to revictimize victims of rape through mythology and faulty social perceptions that surround rape. Findings discuss improvement by way of specialist police teams, prosecutors, and greater support to improve postexperiences of rape victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article utilizes feminist literature on victimhood and rape mythology to suggest a new theoretical lens by which to view victims of sexual violence and the politics of state recognition through apology. The campaigns of two South Korean victim groups, the comfort women and camptown women, are examined to demonstrate that the process in which they must battle to obtain state redress through apology implies the existence of a discursive, gender-normative regime of victimhood. In this context, this article suggests that although the delivery of an apology for sexual violence might provide some form of gendered justice, this process may produce additional effects which work to discipline the related identities of gender and victimhood, and which have forced the comfort women and camptown women to compete for recognition by the South Korean state. The results of this struggle are ambivalent when it comes to victim agency and, in the cases examined in this article, the politics of apology has resulted in a somewhat impoverished form of redress for sexual violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Native women and girls suffer sexual violence at the highest rate of any demographic in the United States—primarily perpetrated by non-Native assailants. In this essay, we explore how dominant Euro-American discourses regarding trauma, sexual violence, and indigenous peoples complicate this epidemic. These discourses individualize trauma, assign it an unrealistic linear timeline that presupposes a stable subject position, and ignore the experiences of women of color. Such rhetoric renders Native bodies as disposable and disguises structural oppression by blaming women for the sexual violence committed against them. Ultimately, we argue that rhetoric of survivance, which combines survival, endurance, and resistance to assert Native presence over historical absence and perceived oblivion, creates a space in which communities disproportionately affected by violence can simultaneously practice collective coping methods while also challenging dominant discourses. To advance this argument we conduct a rhetorical analysis of the illustrated handbook, What to Do When You're Raped: An ABC Handbook for Native Girls, which was produced by a Native American women's organization to address sexual violence. We explore how four central characteristics of survivance—infinitive temporality, storytelling, collective agency, and structural critique—assert Native presence and make visible the problem of sexual violence against Native women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rape is considered a stressful trauma and often with durable consequences. How the aftermath of rape is for young adolescents ' girls considering acute stress is an overlooked field and remains to be studied. Aims: In this study, we wanted to investigate acute stress among adolescent victims of rape and the psychometric properties of the Acute Stress Checklist for Children (ASC-Kids). Methods: A clinical sample (n = 79) of raped girls, 13 - 17 years old who had turned to a special rape victim unit for treatment, answered the ASC-Kids. ASC-Kids was also given to a group of minor stressed, non-raped adolescents in the same age range (n = 154) together with the University of California at Los Angeles Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (UCLA PTSD RI), and the Sense of Coherence Scale 13 (SOC-13). Results : The scores from the groups were compared and showed significant differences in mean values on all the diagnostic criteria of acute stress disorder. In the clinical group, 36.7% obtained full ASD criteria. ASC-Kids could discriminate well between groups. Cronbach ' s alpha was found to be excellent, and the correlation between the UCLA PTSD RI and ASC-Kids found to be good; both ASC-Kids and UCLA PTSD RI had a good and moderate negative correlation with SOC-13. Conclusion: Adolescent female rape victims were shown to have a very high level of acute stress, and the ASC-Kids was found to have sound psychometrics and can be a valuable screening instrument to support clinicians in their assessments of an indication of adolescents after potentially stressful events such as rape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Rape is associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related comorbidities. Most victims do not obtain treatment for these conditions. Acute care medical settings are well positioned to link patients to services; however, difficulty engaging victims and low attendance at provided follow-up appointments is well documented. Identifying factors associated with follow-up can inform engagement and linkage strategies. Method: Administrative, patient self-report, and provider observational data from Harborview Medical Center were combined for the analysis. Using logistic regression, we examined factors associated with follow-up health service utilization after seeking services for rape in the emergency department. Results: Of the 521 diverse female (n = 476) and male (n = 45) rape victims, 28% attended the recommended medical/counseling follow-up appointment. In the final (adjusted) logistic regression model, having a developmental or other disability (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.21–0.77), having a current mental illness (OR = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.13–0.49), and being assaulted in public (OR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.28–0.87) were uniquely associated with reduced odds of attending the follow-up. Having a prior mental health condition (OR = 3.02, 95% CI = 1.86–4.91), a completed Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner's (SANE) examination (OR = 2.97, 95% CI = 1.84–4.81), and social support available to help cope with the assault (OR = 3.54, 95% CI = 1.76–7.11) were associated with an increased odds of attending the follow-up. Conclusions: Findings point to relevant characteristics ascertained at the acute care medical visit for rape that may be used to identify victims less likely to obtain posttraumatic medical and mental health services. Efforts to improve service linkage for these patients is warranted and may require alternative service delivery models that engage rape survivors and support posttraumatic recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]