How come sexual assault is one of hardest crime to prosecute vs every other crime?
In: 2253
Victims often stop cooperating with the police and prosecutors. They don’t want to go to court, they don’t want to have to face the person who raped/assaulted them, they don’t want to have to relive the incident in excruciating detail, they dont want to be humiliated on the stand by the perp’s defense lawyer. They want to heal, they want to put the incident in the past, they want to move on with their lives. In the case of “date rape”, they are often seen out with the perp, talking, smiling, laughing, having a good time, which is all used against them when it comes to the trial. Alcohol, sometimes large amounts, is often consumed by both parties, leading to doubt as to what actually happened, even in the victim’s mind. Victims often feel guilty themselves, like they did something to encourage the perp or lead them on. Also, police and prosecutors are often men, and many men are afraid of being falsely accused of rape and sadly it colors their perspective in the case. There is also the issue of cometence, as sexual assault cases require a lot of experiance and training to investigate and prosecute correctly, but often the first contact is a street level cop with just a couple of years experience and little sexual assault training. Physical evidence is often minimal, and often lost as victims feel unclean or dirty after the assault and clean themselves up, washing away what evidence there was. It can also be several days before the victim can even bring themselves to tell anyone what happened. So DNA is lost and bruises or injuries have healed and one is left with a “he said, she said” case. All of these things are completely understandable, even normal actions and reactions on the part of the victim. But in a system in which a defendent is presumed completely innocent until convincely proved otherwise, all these things and more are huge roadblocks.
Latest Answers