The Lack of Reporting and Guilty Verdict in Cases of Sexual Assault

By Aoife Press

Year 2

Criminology and Sociology Undergraduate Student

Introduction

According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) (2022), sexual offence crimes include “non-consensual crimes such as rape or sexual assault, crimes against children including child sexual abuse or grooming, and crimes that exploit others for a sexual purpose, whether in person or online.” This essay aims to critically analyse the proposed question whilst also giving an understanding of the various types of sexual assault mentioned within the definition given by the CPS. This essay will provide insight into each category of sexual offence and how they differ in regard of the reporting of the crime and whether the crime will ultimately result in a guilty verdict, whilst also discussing why a victim may not report the crime.

Sexual Assault and The Criminal Justice System

Sexual offences are ever-present within modern society, and have been historically, with 20% of women and four per cent of men having experienced some type of sexual crime since the age of 16 in England and Wales (SOS Rape Crisis, 2022). This roughly equates to 3.4 million women and 631,000 men out of a combined population of 56.6 million (Office for National Statistics (ONS), 2022). However, regardless of these high statistics, only a small minority of victims report the crime to authorities, with only 16% of victims reporting their sexual assault to the police in England and Wales according to the ONS (2021).

This lack of reporting is regarded as the ‘dark figure’ of crime which, in short, accounts for the number of unreported, undetected, and unchallenged crimes (Doorewaard, 2014). Alongside this lack of reporting, very few cases end up in court and with a guilty verdict, with only 10.8 per cent of sexual offenders being charged or summoned in 2021 (PSNI, 2021), leaving 89.2 per cent of these reported offenders free from liability (Doorewaard, 2014). These finding undoubtedly reinforce the longstanding justice gap for victims (Archambault and Lonsway, 2012).

Attrition

Cases of rape and other sexual offences are subject to chronic levels of attrition within the United Kingdom’s (UK) Criminal Justice System (CJS) (Brown and Horvath, 2009; Hohl and Stanko, 2015). Attrition describes the rate at which cases, in this instance sexual offences, are lost or dropped out of the criminal justice process (Gregory and Lees, 1996), which, as a result, ends with a lack of guilty verdict since these cases haven’t had the opportunity to go to court. Reasons for attrition include the victim not reporting the crime in the first place (Kelly et al., 2005), the nature of the process of investigation of the crime itself (Jordan, 2011), low levels of reporting from police to prosecution (Hohl and Stanko, 2015), the court process (Brooks and Burman, 2017), and the end decision of the jury (Burrowes et al., 2015).

Due to this high amount of attrition, it has been argued that sexual offence case outcomes have generally become less ‘successful’ over time (Harris and Grace, 1999). Another reason for attrition is that of police officers not deeming the crime to be serious enough to write a crime report, resulting in the ‘grey figure’ of crime, whilst also leaving these sexual offence victims out of official statistics, making sexual offence statistics lower than they should be (Aplin, 2019). These levels of attrition are one of the reasons why sexual offences do not often get reported to the police or, if they are reported, do not result in a guilty verdict.

Age and Sexual Assault

Age plays a significant role in the lack of reporting of sexual offences, with young children and older adults possibly not having the capacity to report a crime such as sexual assault (Brennan et al., 2015; Jones and Powell, 2006). ‘Elder sexual abuse’ is usually when the caregivers of old age pensioners (OAP) capitalise upon their privileged position and violate the trust bestowed upon them to care for elder individuals (Nursing Home Abuse Guide, n.d.). The majority of sexual offences against elders happen within care homes, with 18.2% of those elders being over the age of 85 (Burgess and Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, 2022), stuck in a position of vulnerability who may not be able to seek help after violation. This lack of reporting can be due to physical or mental impairment, dependence on the abuser, and fear of being placed in an institution (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, 2022a). Due to this lack of reporting, these cases of sexual assault against elders does not usually result in a guilty verdict, mainly because of a severe lack of evidence regarding the case (Burgess, 2006).

On the other end of the spectrum, young people are also often unable to report sexual crimes due to lack of capacity to report, especially young children. According to the Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse (2016), rapes of young people often happen within the victim’s own home, usually at the hands of someone known to them, such as a parent or other family member. This can cause the child to not report the crime as they do not want their perpetrator to get into trouble (Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse, 2016). Child sexual offences often happen at the hands of an adult (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, 2022b). Therefore, these perpetrators often hold a position of authority over the victim, resulting in an adult-child power dynamic in which the child wishes to avoid embarrassment or conflict with the authority figure, causing them to ‘save-face’, interlinking with ‘Politeness Theory’ (Brown and Levinson, 1987).

Another reason why children do not report sexual offences is due to the fact that they have been threatened by the abuser, often resulting in the child feeling that if they tell anyone, they, or someone they love, will be hurt as a consequence (Sexual Abuse Education, 2022). This ultimately relates to the radical-liberal feminist perspective of rape, in which sexual assault is generally motivated by control and power rather that sexual gratification and is inherently violent instead of being a sexual act (McPhail, 2016). Age is ultimately a large factor in the reporting of sexual assault, whilst also contributing to the lack of a guilty verdict (Brennan et al., 2015).

Disability and Sexual Assault

Disability is another reason for such low rates of reporting in regard to sexual offences, with individuals suffering from any type of disability being at greater risk of being sexually abused than non-disabled individuals (Grossman and Lundy, 2008; Basile et al., 2016; Nixon et al.,2017). This is ultimately due to these disabled individuals being more vulnerable, dependent of caregivers, and having little education on sexuality and sexual violence and where to seek help regarding these issues (Horton et al., 1990). Women with disability are more at risk of experiencing sexual assault than men with a disability, with two in five female victims having a disability at the time of a sexual offence taking place (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020).

It has been found that 50 per cent of young girls who are deaf have been sexually abused, compared to 25% of young girls who are not deaf (Weiss, 2022). As previously stated (Horton et al., 1990), some disabled individuals have very little education in regard to sexual abuse, therefore it is reasonable to assume that one of the reasons why these victims do not report sexual offences is due to the fact that they may not understand that they have been a victim of sexual violence. The sexual perpetrator, if they are a carer of a disabled individual, may also take away key tools that the victim needs in order to communicate, such as a computer or text-to-speech device in cases of mute individuals, preventing them from reporting the sexual offence to authorities (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, 2022c).

Stigma Surrounding Sexual Assault

There is a myriad of other reasons for victims not reporting sexual offences to authority figures, with fear of embarrassment and fear of not being believed being amongst the top five reasons (Office for National Statistics, 2021). These reasons for not reporting are undoubtedly solidified by influential figures’ views on rape (Office for National Statistics, 2021), with victim blaming ever present within the media, especially social media (Gravelin, 2016). Whilst people of authority, including judges, are expected to keep their biases out of the workplace, there are some that do not, which then deters victims from wishing to go to court due to the fear of the judges opinion (Carrabine et al., 2020). This is evident through Judge Wild’s (1982 in Carrabine et al., 2020, p. 165) comment on rape victims; “Women who say no do not always mean no. It is not just a question of saying no, it is a question of how she says it, how she shows and makes clear. If she doesn’t want it, she only has to keep her legs shut.”

Victims of sexual assault may also fear being put up against a jury consisting of 12 randomised members of the public who also come with their own biases and opinions, especially regarding rape myths, which may deter the victim from reporting as they do not wish to experience ‘secondary victimisation’ (Campbell, 2006; Rich and Seffrin, 2012). Spohn and Tellis (2012) reinforce this lack of victim willingness to report by discussing how reporting sexual offences can be particularly hurtful to victims whose account is not believed by authorities.

‘Me Too’

Contrastingly, the rise of the ‘Me Too’ movement has led to an increase in young women reporting sexual offences since it gained media traction in October of 2017, after being founded by Tarana Burke in 2006 in an effort to evoke social change. The movement aimed to create a community and voice for young women who had experienced sexual violence, giving them the courage to stand up for themselves and report their victimisation to authorities (Me Too, 2022a).

The ‘Me Too’ movement was mainly targeted at teenagers and adults, especially women aged 18-34 (Maryville University, n.d.). The ‘Me Too’ movement had a significant impact upon the reporting of sexual offences with millions of sexual violence victims coming forward and reporting their victimisation to the police within a 24-hour period (Me Too, 2022b).

However, whilst the ‘Me Too’ movement created widespread attention for sexual offences and created a short burst increase in the rates of reporting, it has done very little for genuine change in regard to laws and policies, making it seem more like a trend than a social movement (Levy and Mattsson, 2020). Another limitation of this movement is the fact that is mainly focused on attempting to aid women who have experienced sexual offences, leaving men to fend for themselves and making it unlikely that they will report sexual crimes (Nilsson and Lundgren, 2020).

Jury Bias and Rape Myths

A guilty verdict is when the defendant of a particular case pleads or is found guilty of a crime by a judge or jury (Northern Ireland Direct Government Services, 2022). In cases of sexual offences, if the case makes it to trial, a guilty verdict is very rarely the outcome (Charleton et al., 2022). A reason for the lack of guilty verdicts surrounding sexual offence cases may be the jury’s belief in rape myths, which may shape the way they view the evidence presented to them in court (Leverick, 2020).

 Bohner et al. (2007, p.423) describes a ‘rape myth’ as, “descriptive or prescriptive beliefs about rape (i.e., about its causes, context, consequences, perpetrators, victims, and their interaction) that serve to deny, downplay or justify sexual violence that men commit against women.” According to Leverick (2020), four main types of rape myths may impact upon a juror’s decision-making within court. These categories are, views that blame the victim, views that cast doubt on allegations, views that excuse the defendant, and views regarding what ‘real rape’ looks like.

A key, and most widely known, rape myth is that ‘women can’t rape’, ultimately reducing male rape to a non-significant act (Weare, 2017). This rape myth was reinforced by previous legislation (Sexual Offences Act 1956) made in the UK which stated that for rape to take place, the penetration must be vaginal, and it must be committed against a woman by a man. It was only in 1994 that this legislation was amended to include the rape of men, however, the act of man-on-man non-consensual penetration was described as an act of ‘buggery’ instead of rape (Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994).

These legislations, including the amended version, ultimately make it impossible for a woman to be charged with rape due to these definitions of what constitutes ‘rape’ (Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994). This ultimately deters men from reporting sexual offences as they will not be given justice under the court of law, due to the impossibility of a guilty verdict of a woman in the case of rape (McKeever, 2019).

Conclusion

It is evident through this extensive research that sexual offences often go unreported due to a series of societal and personal factors, including rape myths, threats, age, and health to name a few. Due to these factors that create a chronic lack of reporting, alongside severe levels of attrition, very few cases of sexual offences end up with a guilty verdict, providing victims with a lack of justice (Doorewaard, 2014). Legislations within the UK need further amendment to redefine the definition of ‘rape’ and make it genderless in the eyes of the law. It is also clear that further victim support is needed, surpassing that of the Me Too movement as, while it was effective in gaining societal attention, it has done very little in the way of intensively supporting victims and creating policies to attempt to prevent sexual offences from happening as often.

In instances of child sexual assault and the sexual abuse of older individuals, it is clear that the perpetrators often hold positions of power over the victim and wish to enforce this power dynamic and take advantage of the individual (Nursing Home Abuse Guide, n.d.; Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse, 2016). For older victims, this will most likely be a caregiver (Nursing Home Abuse Guide, n.d.), and for younger victims, a parent or relative (Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse, 2016). These victims, both young and old, also may not have the capacity to report the sexual assault, due to lack of understanding, being in a position of dependence, or fear (Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse, 2016; Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, 2022a).

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