Closing The Justice Gap For Adult And Child Sexual Assault

This book examines the justice gap and trial process for sexual assault against both adults and children in two jurisdictions: England and Wales and New South Wales, Australia. Drawing on decades of research, it investigates the reality of the policing and prosecution of sexual assault offences – often seen as one of the ‘hardest crimes to prosecute’ – across two similar jurisdictions. Despite the introduction of the many reform options detailed in the book, satisfactory outcomes for victims and the public are still difficult to obtain. Cossins takes a new approach by examining the nature and effects of adversarialism on vulnerable witnesses, jury decision-making and the structures of power within the trial process, to show how, and at what points, that process is weighted against complainants of sexual assault, in order to make evidence-based suggestions for reform. She argues that this justice gap is a result of a moralistic adversarial culture which fosters myths and misconceptions about rape and child sexual assault, thus requiring the prosecution to prove a complainant’s moral worthiness. She argues this culture can only be eliminated by a radical replacement of the adversarial system with a trauma-informed system. By reviewing the relevant psychological literature, this book documents the triggers for re-traumatisation within an adversarial trial, and discusses the reform measures that would be necessary to transform the sexual assault trial from one where the complainant’s moral worthiness is ‘on trial’ to a fully functioning trauma-informed system. It speaks to students and academics across subjects including law, criminology, gender studies and psychology, and practitioners in law and victim services, as well as policy-makers.

Concerned by the high attrition rates for sexual crime and the secondary victimization experienced by victims during their participation in the criminal justice system, this book analyses the extent to which restorative justice can address the justice gap that exists in current justice provision. Building on clinical experience and earlier research on sexual crime the authors engage with the complex dynamics and traumatic impact of sexual crime as a critical starting point for their research and examine whether restorative justice can contribute to a more enhanced justice response. The book presents extensive new data on restorative justice as applied in sexual violence cases across the globe. It engages with feminist concerns regarding the traumatic impact of sexual violence and the potential for re-traumatisation; the power imbalances that characterise these offences and the potential for re-victimisation; the potential for coercion of the victim to participate in the process; the potential for manipulation of restorative justice by the offender; and the potential that restorative justice could lead to the reprivatisation of sexual crime and ultimately to its decriminalisation. Having examined these topics in detail, the book concludes there is an important role for restorative justice in addressing the justice gap that exists after sexual crime and offers guidance on how this can be achieved.

This collection interrogates relationships between court architecture and social justice, from consultation and design to the impact of material (and immaterial) forms on court users, through the lenses of architecture, law, socio-legal studies, criminology, anthropology, and a former senior federal judge. International multidisciplinary collaborations and single-author contributions traverse a range of methodological approaches to present new insights into the relationship between architecture, design, and justice. These include praxis, photography, reflections on process and decolonising practice, postcolonial, feminist, and poststructural analysis, and theory from critical legal scholarship, political science, criminology, literature, sociology, and architecture. While the opening contributions reflect on establishing design principles and architectural methodologies for ethical consultation and collaboration with communities historically marginalised and exploited by law, the central chapters explore the textures and affects of built forms and the spaces between; examining the disjuncture between design intention and use; and investigating the impact of architecture and the design of space. The collection finishes with contemplations of the very real significance of material presence or absence in courtroom spaces and what this might mean for justice. Courthouse Architecture, Design and Social Justice provides tools for those engaged in creating, and reflecting on, ethical design and building use, and deepens the dialogue across disciplinary boundaries towards further collaborative work in the field. It also exists as a new resource for research and teaching, facilitating undergraduate critical thought about the ways in which design enhances and restricts access to justice.

This book provides a timely analysis of the use of cultural narratives and narratives of credibility in rape trials in England and Wales, drawing on court observation methods. It draws on data from rape and sexual assault trials in 2019 which is used to examine the current status of newly emerging issues such as the use of digital evidence and the impacts of increasing policy attention on rape trials. Drawing on the concept of master narratives, the book provides an examination of rape myths and broader cultural narratives focussing on the intersections of gender and class and it also touches on the intersections of age, (dis)ability and mental health. It emphasizes the importance of situating rape myth debates and sexual violence research within a broader cultural context and thus argues for widening the lens with which rape myths in the courtroom, as well as in the wider criminal justice system, are viewed in research and contemporary debates. The findings presented in this book will help further discussion at a critical time by enabling scholars, as well as practitioners and policymakers, to better understand the current mechanisms that serve to undermine and retraumatise victim-survivors in the courtroom. It seeks to inform further research as well as positive changes to policy and practice.

Grounded in an explicit focus on men's roles and responsibilities in the fight against sexual harassment, this book creates a deeper understanding of why sexual harassment against women occurs and how we, as a society, can better respond to and prevent it. Integrating theoretical analyses with empirical data from interviews with 25 Danish men, the author argues that if we want to eradicate the social and cultural tolerance of sexual harassment and the victim blaming of women, then we need a paradigm-shifting perspective. This book investigates the framing of the debates on sexual harassment, just as it looks deeper into the socialization processes of men, and raises the question of why so many men feel entitled to sexually harass women. This book also explores what part men can play in combating sexual harassment, emphasizing that it is important not only to see men as perpetrators, but also as empowered bystanders. It argues that the #MeToo movement constitutes a potential instructive moment, presenting men with an opportunity for change.