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Sexual assault and rape are pervasive across all nations and cultures. This gender-based crime is considered one of the most heinous crimes in Bangladesh. A first information report (FIR) and subsequent investigation by police officers are the first steps in the criminal justice response to rape. Unfortunately, it is frequently difficult for law enforcement officials to conduct an investigation and guarantee justice for the victims. Delays and improper investigations dampen the enthusiasm of rape victims seeking justice. This paper explores the issues and challenges the police officers confront when investigating rape cases. A qualitative research approach has been applied to this study, where a total of 15 police officers participated in in-depth interviews. This paper reveals that problems with existing legal instruments, crime scene management, and evidence collection processes are apparent in rape case investigations. Furthermore, challenges pertaining to medical and forensic examinations, insufficient logistical support, an excessive number of responsibilities, and various internal and external pressures have a detrimental impact on the efficacy of police investigations. Victim and witness non-cooperation, delays in filing cases, practices of filing false rape cases, informal mediation, and out-of-court settlements all reduce the success rate of police investigations and result in low conviction rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there has been an upsurge of research about human services for male victims of rape, methodological advances are still limited, and significant knowledge gaps remain. Until now, empirical studies have focused almost entirely on human service professionals' gendered attitudes to try to explain outcomes and victims' experiences of support. In this article, I argue that research approaches that are based on professionals' attitudes fail to account for important contextual conditions in policing, healthcare and other human services. My overall aim is thus to introduce greater concern about contextual conditions in human services and provide ways for scholars to approach support for raped men so that different practices, as well as their effects, become visible. To demonstrate the contributions of a practice-based approach to research about support for raped men, an empirical case from a study on police investigation into rape will be analysed and discussed. By using a practice-based approach, it is possible to explore relations between practices performed by organisations, professionals and victims, and highlight the outcomes of such relations. In this way, a practice-based approach can help research progress and contribute to improved services for male rape victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research into the circumstances of rape, and criminal justice system responses, is pivotal to informing prevention and improving the likelihood of justice for victims. In this paper, we explore the differences in the circumstances of multiple-perpetrator rapes (MPRs) and single-perpetrator rapes (SPRs), their case management, and attrition, and describe areas for improvemensuplt around rape response within the South African criminal justice system. Methods: The sample comprised 3952 rape cases reported to the South African Police Services (SAPS) in 2012, selected through a multi-stage random sampling of 172 police stations from a total of 1164 police stations in the nine provinces, followed by the random selection of cases from each station's case list. Data were abstracted from police dockets, medico-legal examination forms, charge sheets, and trial transcripts. MPRs were defined as cases in which more than one perpetrator had sexual contact with the victim during a single incident, i.e., sexually assaulted or raped. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests for associations were used to compare MPRs and SPRs in circumstances of the rape, case management, and attrition. Results: Seventeen percent of cases were MPRs. MPRs were comparably more violent crimes with a higher frequency of aggressive tactics employed by perpetrators, for example, abductions, firearms use, and threats to kill. Overall, cases were often poorly handled by police, and there were deviations from standard policing and investigation procedures; we found more evidence of this with MPRs compared to SPRs. MPR cases were most likely to have been closed by police due to undetected perpetrators in combination with other victim reasons. The weaker investigations of MPRs were associated with higher attrition rates compared to SPRs, firstly at the police investigation and subsequent stages. Conclusions: The findings confirm differences in case management, patterns of attrition and trajectories of MPRs compared to SPRs. In an overall context of high rape case attrition and impunity for perpetrators, MPR victims are even less likely to see justice served than SPR victims. There needs to be much more effective supervision of rape case investigations by SAPS, particularly in MPR cases. Continual investigator training strengthened supervision and better resourcing are necessary to improve MPRs detection and convictions in adherence to the Directives for rape policing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual assault on females may ruin the entire life of the victim. Victims of such incidents rarely get support from any quarters of society, including their family members. On the other hand, men can be made the victim of such heinous crimes by false accusations by women for various motives. As most of the judgments on sexual assault cases are based on circumstantial history, and oral evidence, it may be very hard to disprove the allegation. According to the figures from National Crime Records Bureau's (NCRB) crime in India report 2020, less than 8% of all cases under investigation for rape were found to be false. In 2014, the Delhi commission for women submitted a report stating that, 53.2% of rape cases registered between April 2013-July 2014 was false. In India, the threat of false rape cases on one pretext or the other is increasing since the new amendment to the rape law in 2013. This fact is evident from the study of court judgments and media reports. In most false sexual assault cases, the victim took advantage of a fabricated injury to strengthen the case. There are various motives behind fabricating injury to register false sexual assault cases some of which are, to bring a charge of rape, heartbreak, anger, or some other mala fide motive induces a woman to file a false rape case majority, some women just do it to seek the attention of the media and have publicity, to defame others, to gain a large sum of money by a false allegation and to obtain compensation from the Government, In most cases, it is also found that to cover up first sexual intercourse women falsely accuse their partner of sexual assault. Various studies of disguised injuries in assault incidents showed that, the limbs, neck, and chest are the most favoured sites for disguised injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The Prosecution Service found a forensic exam of the victim important for the legal process in 49% of cases of sexual assault. • A forensic examination of the perpetrator is associated with laying of charges and a guilty verdict. • The prosecution was more often aided by the forensic exam in cases of 'conflicting explanations', uncooperative victim or perpetrator denial. • The prosecution services' use of a forensic exam of victim and perpetrator has been more frequent in recent years. Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the forensic clinical examination in the judicial assessment made by the Prosecution Service in cases of rape. Methods All cases of police-reported sexual assault in the county of Funen, Denmark in a six-year period were reviewed, and the retrospective data was collected. Cases in which a forensic clinical examination was performed were included. Results The Prosecution Service in the county of Funen received 348 police-reported rape cases and of these 184 cases were included. The Prosecution Service stated that the forensic clinical examination (FCE) was important for the decision-making process in approximately half of the cases. The Prosecution Service finding an FCE important due to the presence of relevant findings was significantly associated with the case going to trial, whereas importance due to absence of relevant findings was significantly associated with the cases not going to trial. The only single factor associated with a case going to court and a guilty verdict was an FCE of the alleged perpetrator. There were no crude associations between any other factors i.e. the type of assault, victim injuries or alcohol consumption. In a logistic regression model, however, it was significantly more likely (p < 0.05) that a forensic clinical examination of the victim was used in the Prosecution Service's decision if there were both anogenital and extra-genital injuries documented, that could originate from the alleged crime. The odds were 7.83 times higher compared to if no injuries were detected. The Prosecution Service's use of the clinical examination in their argumentation of the decision of a rape complaint has been significantly increasing from 2003 to 2015. Conclusion The results of the first in-depth analysis of the overall importance of a forensic clinical examination in cases of rape and sexual assault shows that we need to continuously focus on the documentation of sexual assault, as documentation is part of the decision-making process at all stages of the judicial process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]