<p>The purpose of this study is to analyze the interrogation transcripts of interviews with girls between the age of 11 and 16 who are alleged victims of sexual crimes. The examination is done from a gender perspective, by comparing six interrogations by male interrogators and eight interrogations by female interrogators. The study has used linguistic indicators relating to the interrogation methodological guidelines, in order to highlight how the interrogators give girls the opportunity and space to share their experience of the alleged sexual offense. Text material is categorized based on themes and analyzed in detail to find any gender-specific patterns of hearing leaders and if the girls are given space and opportunity for a free storytelling. The results show that in several themes, differences between the male and the female interrogators can be discerned. It has emerged that male interrogators in this study have a greater use of social support, that there are various techniques used by men and women between how the names of sexual words are created and that the female interrogation leaders questioning on average are longer and have a higher frequency of issues. In other dimensions, that has been investigated the differences are not significant.</p>

La presente ricerca indaga il dibattito sociale, culturale e politico che ha anticipato la legge n. 66 Norme penali contro la violenza sessuale, licenziata dal Parlamento italiano nel febbraio 1996 e che, a quasi settant’anni dall’entrata in vigore del Codice penale Rocco, modificò la normativa vigente in materia di reati sessuali. Quel risultato arrivò a conclusione di un dibattito ventennale che visse due fasi principali: la prima coincise con il decennio degli anni Settanta ed ebbe come protagonista il movimento femminista, la seconda prese avvio all’inizio degli anni Ottanta e spostò il baricentro della discussione all’interno delle aule parlamentari. Nel lavoro di analisi proposto sono state seguite tre direttrici principali. Innanzitutto si è indagato il ruolo giocato dal movimento femminista nell’accendere i riflettori sul tema dello stupro e nel rompere il muro di silenzio che lo aveva relegato a questione privata. In secondo luogo si è tentato di fotografare il fermento sociale e culturale che accompagnò l’iniziativa femminista contribuendo a diffondere nella società civile italiana una nuova consapevolezza sul tema della violenza e degli abusi sessuali. L’attenzione si è infine soffermata sulla pluralità di approcci, punti di vista ed interpretazioni che animarono il dibattito parlamentare sulla riforma in materia di reati sessuali con l’intento di portare alla luce le ragioni più o meno nascoste che per cinque legislature impedirono alle forze politiche di approdare ad una soluzione condivisa. / This research aims to investigate the social, cultural and political debate that has anticipated law no. 66 Norme penali contro la violenza sessuale, dismissed by the Italian Parliament in February 1996. That result amended the current law in sex offenses and it was the final step of a twenty-year debate during which the Italian feminist movement played a crucial role. This research has three principle objectives. Firstly, it investigates the role played by the Italian feminist movement in bringing to light the subject of rape and breaking the wall of silence that had relegated it to a private sphere. Secondly, it aims to photograph the social and cultural turmoil raised by the feminist initiative which spread a new awareness about violence and sexual abuses in the Italian civil society. Thirdly, the research analyses the plurality of opinions and points of view that animated the parliamentary debate and prevented political forces from reaching a shared approach on the reform of criminal sex offenses.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the interrogation transcripts of interviews with girls between the age of 11 and 16 who are alleged victims of sexual crimes. The examination is done from a gender perspective, by comparing six interrogations by male interrogators and eight interrogations by female interrogators. The study has used linguistic indicators relating to the interrogation methodological guidelines, in order to highlight how the interrogators give girls the opportunity and space to share their experience of the alleged sexual offense. Text material is categorized based on themes and analyzed in detail to find any gender-specific patterns of hearing leaders and if the girls are given space and opportunity for a free storytelling. The results show that in several themes, differences between the male and the female interrogators can be discerned. It has emerged that male interrogators in this study have a greater use of social support, that there are various techniques used by men and women between how the names of sexual words are created and that the female interrogation leaders questioning on average are longer and have a higher frequency of issues. In other dimensions, that has been investigated the differences are not significant.

Syftet med vår studie var att ur ett genusperspektiv undersöka ungdomars konstruktioner och föreställningar kring gärningspersoner och offer vid sexualbrott. Vi gjorde tre fokusgruppsintervjuer med totalt 18 ungdomar i gymnasieåldern. Ungdomarna benämnde genomgående gärningspersoner som män och hade generellt svårt att se kvinnor som gärningspersoner vid sexualbrott. Manliga gärningspersoner konstruerades främst som alfahannar som begår sexualbrott för att få utlopp för sin sexualitet medan kvinnliga gärningspersoner främst konstruerades som sjuka, konstiga och utan självrespekt. Ungdomarna hade lättare att se kvinnor som offer vid sexualbrott, samtidigt framhölls flertalet omständigheter som påverkar kvinnors offerstatus negativt. Att som kvinna utsättas för sexualbrott ansågs resultera i psykiska men och en kränkt sexualitet. Män beskrevs alltid vara okej och tycktes inte påverkas av utsatthet för sexuella övergrepp. Ungdomarna menade att kvinnor som berättar om övergrepp riskerar att betraktas som slampor och förstörda medan män som berättar om övergrepp riskerar att betraktas som homosexuella och omanliga. / Deep down, maybe she wanted it An essay based on qualitative focus group interviews with adolescents in a Swedish high school, regarding their thoughts on and constructions of perpetrators and victims of sexual offenses. The aim of our study was to examine adolescents perceptions and constructions of perpetrators and victims of sexual offenses from a gender perspective. We conducted three focus group interviews with a total of 18 adolescents between the age of 16 and 19. The adolescents consistently referred to perpetrators as men and generally had difficulties seeing women as perpetrators of sexual offenses. Male offenders were primarily depicted as alpha males who commit sexual offenses in order to get a sexual release, while female offenders were primarily depicted as sick, strange and without self-respect. The adolescents more easily perceived women as victims of sexual offenses, still, some circumstances seemed to affect the possibility for a woman to be viewed as an ideal victim, in a negative way. Being a woman subjected to a sexual offense was thought to result in mental issues and breached sexuality, while men were thought not to be as affected by sexual abuse. The adolescents believed that women who reported abuse risked being looked at as sluts and as tainted while men who reported abuse where at risk of being considered as unmanly and as homosexuals.

Contexte. Les infractions à caractère sexuel ont fortement augmenté dans les dernières années et les personnes mineures en sont les principales victimes. Un grand intérêt est accordé aux distorsions cognitives dans le champ de la recherche en délinquance sexuelle. Cependant, très peu d’études se sont intéressées aux dimensions mesurées par l’un des instruments les plus utilisés : l’échelle de cognitions Molest (ÉCM ; Bumby, 1996). Peu d’études se sont également intéressées au lien entre les distorsions cognitives et la carrière criminelle des auteurs d’infractions à caractère sexuel sur personnes mineures (AICSM). Objectif. L’objectif du présent mémoire est d’explorer les dimensions mesurées par l’ÉCM et les comparer aux résultats d’études précédentes. Il est aussi question d’étudier le lien entre les distorsions cognitives mesurées par l’ÉCM et la carrière criminelle des AICSM. Méthodes. L’échantillon est composé de 1232 hommes adultes AICSM étant suivis au Centre d’intervention en délinquance sexuelle (CIDS) de Laval. Les participants ont tous complété l’ÉCM lors de leur suivi au centre. Résultats. Les résultats indiquent que quatre dimensions émergent de l’ÉCM et que certaines distorsions cognitives telles que mesurées par cet instrument sont liées aux différents paramètres de carrière criminelle des individus composant l’échantillon, incluant la récidive violente et sexuelle. / Background. Sexual offenses have increased sharply in recent years and minors are the main victims. There is considerable interest in cognitive distortions in the field of sexual offending research. However, very few studies have focused on the dimensions measured by one of the most widely used instruments: the MOLEST Cognitions Scale (Bumby, 1996). Few studies have also looked at the link between cognitive distortions and the criminal careers of people who have sexually offended against a minor (PSOM). Objective. The objective of the present study is to explore the dimensions measured by the MOLEST scale and compare them with the results of previous studies. It also investigates the relationship between cognitive distortions measured by the MOLEST scale and PSOMs’ criminal careers. Methods. The sample consisted of 1,232 adult men who sexually offended on a minor and were being treated at the Intervention centre in sexual delinquency (ICSD) in Quebec (Canada). All participants completed the MOLEST cognition scale during their treatment at the ICSD. Results. Findings indicate that four dimensions emerge from the MOLEST scale, and that certain cognitive distortions as measured by this instrument are related to the different criminal career parameters of sample, including violent and sexual recidivism.