Juries' rape myths challenged amid slump in convictions in trials

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Scales of justice

More than a third of jurors are unsure if rape victims who display little emotion in the witness box can have been sexually assaulted despite psychological research disproving it, according to the first official investigation into juries’ belief in rape “myths.”

The long-awaited research, based on interviews with jurors after trials, found 34 per cent were “unsure” if a rape victim would be expected to be “very emotional” when recounting the attack.

Psychological research shows people are not always visibly upset even when recounting a traumatic crime, according to the study which was commissioned by Lord Leveson when he was head of criminal justice in England and Wales and is based on interviews with 500 jurors.

Almost a third of jurors were also unclear about whether rape was more likely to be committed by a stranger when over 80 per cent is committed by a partner or acquaintance.

But the research found little or no evidence that jurors were less likely to believe a woman who wore provocative clothes or had sent sexually explicit texts to their prospective attacker.

The long-awaited research, by Cheryl Thomas, professor of judicial studies at UCL, comes amid concern that rape prosecutions have slumped to a record low of 1.4 per cent despite a 43 per cent rise in rapes reported to police since 2016.

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Lord Leveson

Women’s groups are expected to contest some of the findings after previous research suggested many not guilty verdicts were linked to jurors accepting commonly-held rape myths.

“These two findings on ‘acquaintance rape’ and communication of trauma really matter and warrant deeper exploration and understanding,” said Sarah Green, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition.

“What we do know from government statistics is that the whole justice system is failing badly on rape - the majority of women and men victims still never report it; thousands of cases are dropped at police and prosecution service staged and never make it to court.”

Professor Thomas was given unprecedented access to interview 50 juries after their verdicts to establish if they believed common rape myths and stereotypes.

Her initial findings point to evidence of myths in juries’ understanding of rape within relationships. ONS figures show more than 80 per cent of rapes are committed by a partner, ex-partner or someone known to the victim. Only one in seven (13 per cent) are by a stranger.

Trailing the research, Lord Leveson acknowledged there were “some factual issues” where a “substantial proportion” of jurors were “uncertain what to believe.”

“For example, we know that most people who are raped are raped by someone they know – not a stranger. And while the research found that the majority of serving jurors know this is the case, just under a third said they were not sure about it,” he said. 

“Further, we also know from psychological research that a person may not always be visibly upset when they are asked to recount a traumatic event like rape. But the research found that over a third of serving jurors were not sure about this.”

Lord Leveson said new guidance was being tested in an attempt to dispel these doubts. Other myths, however, are challenged by the research including a survey by End Violence Against Women which found 33 per cent of Britons believed there must be violence for rape to occur.

Only three per cent of the jurors questioned by Professor Thomas said rape had to result in bruises or marks and just five per cent of jurors said it was not rape unless the person fought back.

Lord Leveson said “virtually no jurors” believed “a woman who wears provocative clothing or goes out alone at night puts herself in a position to be raped” or that “a woman who sends a man sexually explicit texts or messages should not complain of being raped later on.”

They also did not discount rape if the allegation was not reported immediately and did not accept that men cannot be raped. The research which is expected to be completed by the Spring coincides with a cross-Government review of rape to investigate ways to reverse the plunging prosecution rates.

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