"And always keep a-hold of nurse, for fear of finding something worse"1: Chal lenging rape myths in the courtroom

New Criminal Law Review

Volumn 13, Issue 4, 2010, Pages 710-734

  Temkin, Jennifer ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 78549249853     PISSN: 19334192     EISSN: 19334206     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/nclr.2010.13.4.710     Document Type: Article

References (138)

1. Hilaire Belloc, "Jim," in Cautionary Tales for Children (1907).
2. In 1979, convictions for rape offenses in the Crown Court were 32 percent of reported cases in the same year. In 2008, the percentage dropped to 6.9.
3. See Home Office, Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Annual Criminal Statistics Supplementary Tables, vol. 2, Table S2.1 (A). For further discussion, see below and Jennifer Temkin, Rape and the Legal Process, ch. 1 (2002).
4. The Heilbron Committee, Report of the Advisory Group on the Law of Rape Cmnd. 6352 (1975).
5. Criminal Law Revision Committee (CLRC), Working Paper on Sexual Offences (1980);
6. CLRC, Fifteenth Report, Sexual Offences, Cmnd. 9213 (1984).
7. See, e.g., Camplin 1 Cox CC 220 (1845).
8. The exemption was first abolished by the judiciary in the landmark judgements of the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords in R v. R, see 2 All E.R. 257 [1991]; 4 All E.R. 481, HL [1991].This was subsequently ratified by the legislature in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, § 142.
9. Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, § 32.
10. See Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (YJCEA) 1999, § 41.
11. See YJCEA 1999, § 34.
12. See YJCEA 1999, §§ 19-30.
13. Part 11, ch. 1.
14. See Morgan Harris Burrows, Research into the Impact of Bad Character Provisions on the Courts, MOJ Research Series 5/09, March 2009.
15. Part 11, ch. 2.
16. See also R v. Openshaw EWCA (Crim) 556 [2006];
17. 2 Cr. App. Rep. 405 [2006].
18. See Jennifer Temkin & Barbara Krahé, Sexual Assault and the Justice Gap: A Question of Attitude 191-93 (2008);
19. John Yates, Rape Investigation: A Policing Perspective, 77 Medico-Legal Journal 70, 74 (2009).
20. See http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/sexoffend1.html.
21. For further improvements in the way that the criminal justice system deals with rape cases, see The Stern Review, A Report by Baroness Vivien Stern CBE of an Independent Review into How Rape Complaints are Handled by Public Authorities in England and Wales 49-50 (2010), http://www.equalities.gov.uk/pdf/ Stern-Review-of-Rape-Reporting-1FINAL.pdf.
22. See Still Getting Away with Rape, Channel Four Television, Dispatches, Mar. 16, 2000, http://www.broadcaster.org.uk/section1/rapecampaign/date-rape- trans.htm.
23. Among adults aged 16-59, 19.5 percent of women had suffered some form of sexual assault since the age of 16. Sexual assaults against females, which are the main focus of this article, far exceeded sexual assaults against males.
24. See Home Office, Crime in England and Wales, British Crime Survey 2008-09, vol. 1, ch. 3, Table 3.11, 67 (2008-09) http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ rds/pdfs09/hosb1109vol1.pdf.
25. Id. at Table 2.04.
26. Ministry of Justice, Criminal Statistics England and Wales 2007, Supplementary Tables, vol. 2, Part 1, Table S2.1A, http://www.justice.gov.uk/ publications/criminalannualarchive.htm.
27. Id.
28. Home Office, Crime in England and Wales 2008-09, 32, Table 2.04, http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb1109vol1.pdf.
29. Ministry of Justice, Criminal Statistics Annual Report 2008, Supplementary Tables, Vol. 2, Part 1, Table S2.1A, http://www.justice.gov.uk/ publications/criminalannual.htm.
30. For a different view of rape statistics based on an eighteen-month study, see Cheryl Thomas, Are Juries Fair?, Ministry of Justice Research Series 1/10 (2010), http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/are-juries-fair-research. pdf.
31. See, e.g., Jacqueline Wheatcroft, Graham Wagstaff & Annmarie Moran, Revictimising the Victim? How Rape Victims Experience the UK Legal System, 4 Victims and Offenders 265 (2009).
32. Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Convicting Rapists and Protecting Victims-Justice for Victims of Rape: Consultation Paper (2006).
33. Sara Payne, Rape: The Victim Experience Review, Home Office (2009).
34. See also Fawcett Society, Final Report of the Commission on Women and the Criminal Justice System, Engendering Justice: From Policy to Practice (2009), http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/documents/Commission%20report%20May%2009.pdf.
35. Home Office, Together We Can End Violence against Women and Girls: A Strategy (2009).
36. Stern Review, supra note 14.
37. See, e.g., Temkin and Krahé, supra note 13. Sara Payne's report highlights the problem: supra note 25, at 10.
38. Martha R. Burt, Cultural Myths and Support for Rape, 38 J. Personality & Soc. Psychol. 217, 217 (1980).
39. Heike Gerger, Hanna Kley, Gerd Bohner, & Frank Siebler, The Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression (AMMSA) Scale: Development and Validation in German and English, 33 Aggressive Behavior 422 (2007).
40. This is the most extreme of all the myths and conflicts with other myths.
41. See Emily Finch & Vanessa Munro, Juror Stereotypes and Blame Attribution in Rape Cases Involving Intoxicants, 45 Brit. J. Criminology 25 (2005).
42. See, e.g., Opinion Matters, Report prepared for the Havens (Sexual Assault Referral Centres), Wake Up to Rape, Research Summary Report 8 (2010), http://www.thehavens.co.uk/docs/Havens-Wake-Up-To-Rape-Report-Summary.pdf.
43. See the Sexual Offences Act 2003, § 1.
44. See R v. Malone, 2 Cr. App. R. 447 [1998].
45. EWCA (Crim) 2557 [2008];
46. Crim. L. Rev. 591 [2009].
47. See, e.g., Ann W. Burgess & Linda L. Holmstrom, Rape Trauma Syndrome and Post-Traumatic Stress Response, in Ann. W. Burgess ed., Rape and Sexual Assault: A Research Handbook, Vol. 1, 46 (1985).
48. See, e.g., Lance P. Kelley, Frank W. Weathers, Meghan E. McDevitt-Murphy, David E. Eakin, & Amanda M. Flood, Comparison of PTSD Symptom Patterns in Three Types of Civilian Trauma, 22 J. Traumatic Stress 227 (2009).
49. Ann L. Coker, Rebecca Weston, Daniel Creson, Blair Justice & Patricia Blakeney, PTSD Symptoms Among Men and Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: The Role of Risk and Protective Factors, 20 Violence & Victims 625 (2005).
50. See, e.g., Alan Clarke, Jo Moran-Ellis & Judith Sleney, Sentencing Advisory Panel Research Report 2, Attitudes To Date Rape and Relationship Rape: A Qualitative Study (2002).
51. See Burgess & Holmstrom, supra note 37;
52. Liat Sayfan, Emilie B.Mitchell, Gail S.Goodman, Mitchell S. Eisen & Jianjian Qin, Children's Expressed Emotions When Disclosing Maltreatment, 32 Child Abuse & Neglect 1026 (2008).
53. See, e.g., Bessel A. van der Kolk & Rita Fisler, Dissociation and The Fragmentary Nature of Traumatic Memories: Overview and Exploratory Study, 8 J. Traumatic Stress 505 (2006);
54. Shannon Tromp, Mary P. Koss, Aurelio Jose Figueredo & Melinda Tharan, Are Rape Memories Different?: A Comparison of Rape, Other Unpleasant and Pleasant Memories among Employed Women, 8 J. Traumatic Stress, 607 (2006).
55. See, e.g., Catherine C.Classen, Oxana G. Palesh & R. Aggarwal, Sexual Revictimization: A Review of the Empirical Literature, 6 Trauma, Violence & Abuse 103 (2005).
56. See, e.g., Andy Feist, Jane Ash, Jane Lawrence, Duncan McPhee & Rachel Wilson, Investigating and Detecting Recorded Offences of Rape, Home Office Online Report, 12 (2007), http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/ rdsolr1807.pdf.
57. Id. at 21.
58. See also United States Department of Justice, Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences of Violence against Women, Research Report iv (2000), http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/183781.pdf.
59. See, e.g., Temkin & Krahé, supra note 13, at ch. 2;
60. Wake Up to Rape, supra note 33;
61. Mary White Stewart, Shirley A. Dobbin & Sophia I. Gatowski, "Real Rapes" and "Real Victims": The Shared Reliance on Common Cultural Definitions of Rape, IV Feminist L. Stud. 159 (1996).
62. See Dozens More Rape Compensation Payouts Cut Because Victims Had Been Drinking, The London Times, Aug. 13, 2008.
63. See Compensation for Drunk Rape Victims, The London Times, Aug. 17, 2008.
64. See Stern Review, supra note 14, at 17.
65. Payne, supra note 25, at 13.
66. Yates, supra note 13, at 74.
67. Id.
68. See, e.g., Sue Lees, Carnal Knowledge: Rape on Trial (1996).
69. See, e.g., Temkin and Krahé, supra note 13, at part 2.
70. See Office for Criminal Justice Reform, supra note 24, at ch. 4.
71. Id. at 19.
72. Id. at 20.
73. Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Convicting Rapists and Protecting Victims-Justice for Victims of Rape: Response to Consultation, 14-18 (2007).
74. Id. at 20-21.
75. In England and Wales, at the end of a jury trial, the judge will give a detailed summing-up to the jury in which the law will be set out, the evidence in the case examined, and specific directions given.
76. Beware Rape Myths, Judges to Tell Jurors, The London Times, June 15, 2009.
77. The idea of a judicial direction on false allegations has now been rejected.
78. Peter Rook, Sexual Offences (Non-Consensual Cases and Offences against Children): Examples of Directions to the Jury, Judicial Studies Board, September 2009. Unpublished materials kindly supplied to the author by His Honour Judge Rook QC.
79. See supra note 36 (both sources).
80. For an exemplary direction on late reporting by victims of child sexual abuse upheld but not emphatically endorsed by the Court of Appeal, see MM, EWCA (Crim) 1558 [2007].
81. See also Breeze EWCA (Crim) 255 [2009], where the judge's direction on late complaining led to a successful appeal.
82. Judicial Studies Board, Crown Court Benchbook (2010).
83. Id. ch. 17, at 4.
84. Id. introduction at viii.
85. Id. ch. 17, at 13, 14.
86. Id. at 14.
87. Penny Darbyshire, Andy Maughan & Angus Stewart, What Can the English Legal System Learn from Jury Research Published up to 2001? 25 (2001), http://sixthformlaw.info/06-misc/pdf-files/penny-darbyshire.pdf.
88. See V. Gordon Rose & James R.P. Ogloff, Evaluating the Comprehensibility of Jury Instructions: A Method and an Example, 25 (4) Law & Hum. Behav. 409, 411 (2001).
89. Bethany Dumas, Jury Trials: Lay Jurors, Pattern Jury Instructions, and Comprehension Issues, 67 (3) Tenn. L. Rev. 701 (2000).
90. Darbyshire et al., supra note 70, at 26.
91. Walter W. Steele & Elizabeth G. Thornburg, Jury Instructions: A Persistent Failure To Communicate, 67 N.C. L. Rev. 77 (1988) at 77.
92. Darbyshire et al., supra note 70, at 25.
93. Id. at 26.
94. Lawyers are now allowed to sit on juries in England and Wales: Criminal Justice Act 2003, Schedule 33.
95. Robert Howe, Too Much Legal Experience Can Subvert Jury Trial, The London Times, Dec. 3, 2009.
96. See, e.g., Laurence J. Severance & Elizabeth F. Loftus, Improving the Ability of Jurors to Comprehend and Apply Criminal Jury Instructions, 17 Law & Soc'y Rev. 153 (1982).
97. Amiram Elwork, Bruce D. Sales & James J. Alfini, Making Jury Instructions Understandable (1982).
98. Thomas, supra note 22, at 35-38.
99. Darbyshire et al., supra note 70, at 27.
100. Supra note 65, ch. 17 at 362 (italics added).
101. Supra note 63, 5 (numbering and italics added).
102. Norbert Schwarz, Lawrence J. Sanna, Ian Skurnik & Carolyn Yoon, Metacognitive Experiences and the Intricacies of Setting People Straight: Implications for Debiasing and Public Information Campaigns, 39 Advances in Experimental Soc. Psychol. 127, 127 (2007).
103. Id. at 128.
104. See Temkin and Krahé, supra 13, at 205.
105. Schwarz et al., supra note 85, at 128.
106. Id. at 146.
107. Cited in Schwarz et al. supra note 85, at 147.
108. Id. at 151.
109. Id.
110. Supra note 63, 6 (numbering and italics added).
111. See text at supra note 87.
112. Jurors may also be unfamiliar with words such as "demeanor" and "assailant."
113. See supra note 36.
114. Supra note 36, [2009] Crim. L. Rev. 591 at 593 (numbering and italics added);
115. Stern Review, supra note 14, at 93.
116. See, e.g., Temkin and Krahé, supra note 13, at 164.
117. Supra note 65, ch. 17 at 358 (italics added).
118. For further discussion of the New South Wales experience of judicial instructions in rape cases, see J. Temkin, Rape and the Legal Process 193-94 (2002).
119. Louise Ellison & Vanessa Munro, Of "Normal Sex" and "Real Rape": Exploring the Use of Socio-Sexual Scripts in (Mock) Jury Deliberation, 18 Soc. & Legal Stud. 291 (2009).
120. Barbara Krahé, Steffen Bieneck & Renate Scheinberger-Olwig, The Role of Sexual Scripts in Sexual Aggression and Victimisation, 36 Archives Sexual Behav. 687, 687 (2007).
121. See Temkin and Krahé, supra note 13, at 49-50.
122. Id.
123. Louise Ellison & Vanessa E. Munro, Turning Mirrors into Windows?: Assessing the Impact of (Mock) Juror Education in Rape Trials, 49 Brit. J. Criminol. 363 (2009).
124. See preceding text, at "Judicial Instructions: Dislodging False Beliefs."
125. Supra note 105, at 366-67.
126. Id. at 371.
127. Louise Ellison & Vanessa E. Munro, Getting to Not Guilty: Examining Jurors Deliberative Processes in and Beyond the Context of a Rape Trial, 30 Legal Stud. 74, 94 (2010).
128. Id. at 95.
129. Id. at 83. Out of 27 trials, 18 of which had involved some form of jury education, only 5 resulted in a conviction, but the authors do not specify which trials these were.
130. Payne, supra note 25, at 8.
131. See preceding text, at "False Beliefs about Rape."
132. Only the relevant behavior would need to be mentioned. It is suggested that the new "Illustration" on complainant behavior is too weak to have much impact;
133. supra note 65, ch. 17 at 361.
134. The advertising campaign by the Association of Chief Police Officers in December 2009 heeds many of the lessons learned from research into media campaigns: see The London Times, Nov. 30, 2009.
135. See also, Police Launch National Rape Awareness Campaign, http://inform.glam.ac.uk/news/2009/12/03/police-launch-national-rape-awareness- campaign/.
136. Research suggests that jurors form views about the verdict early on in the trial: see, e.g., Valerie P. Hans, U.S. Jury Reform: The Active Jury and the Adversarial Ideal, 21 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 85 (2002).
137. See, e.g., Yates, supra note 13,
138. Stern Review, supra note 14.