Rape myths are pervasive and play a major role in the perpetuation and substantiation of sexual violence against women. This study sought to examine if rape myths could affect criminal case outcomes. An overview of rape myths and their foundations in feminist theories was presented. Four major rape myths (husbands cannot rape their wives, women enjoy rape, women ask to be raped, and women lie about rape) were operationalized into victim and case characteristics and subsequently assessed to determine if there is a relationship between the variables and criminal case outcomes (suspect arrest and suspect conviction). A sample (n = 463) of cases that were gathered from two jurisdictions in a north-eastern U.S. state were analysed. Results indicate that victim participation, consent defence, and other crimes being present in the initial police report were the strongest predictors of suspect arrest and suspect conviction. Weapon use was a strong predictor of suspect arrest and substance use was a strong predictor of suspect conviction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mau-60603 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Howes, Christopher |
| Publisher | Malmö universitet, Institutionen för kriminologi (KR) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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