International Review of Victimology

Publisher:: Sage Publications, Inc.
Publication date:: 2021-09-06

ISBN:: 0269-7580

Issue Number

Latest documents

Vulnerability, resilience, and rape: Uncovering the hidden work of police officers during rape investigations
Drawing on original empirical data comprising police interviews and case file analysis, this article seeks to better understand the policing responses to cases of rape and specifically, the ways in which officers assist victims in the context of two themes – encouraging engagement with the investigative process and ensuring victim safety and general welfare. This work – which we call ‘hidden work’ as it is often neglected in the research literature – involves victim care, multi-agency working, provision of practical assistance, along with efforts to protect victims from physical and psychological harm. This article reaffirms key observations in the existing literature that emphasise the importance of victim welfare and engagement as part of a police investigation. A focus on victim care can be seen as an end in itself but also as a strategy that may carry benefit to the police themselves in the pursuance of performance goals should a victim remain engaged with the criminal justice process. However, the central argument in this paper is that traditional measures of police performance, such as detection and arrest rates, miss a significant amount of police activity which are important to rape victims and that a broader range of considerations should be factored into discussion of police performance. This is suggested not to diminish or downplay the significance of traditional measures of performance, or indeed to minimise police shortcomings in these areas, but to facilitate a more nuanced discussion of some of the realities of investigative work in the complex field of sexual offences. The article concludes by arguing that much of this hidden work should be included in formal assessments of police performance alongside traditional key performance indicators.
Restoring victims’ confidence: Victim-centred restorative practices
Victimization, and in particular sexual violence, undermines victims’ confidence and self-esteem. Victims often feel guilty and blame themselves for what happened. Fearing negative reactions, victims of sexual violence are often reluctant to report the crime to police. When victims do report to the police, the criminal justice process is often difficult and most sexual violence cases do not end in a conviction. Restorative practices (hereafter RP) have been presented both as a possible alternative and a complement to the criminal justice process, which could improve victims’ experiences. However, there is also considerable resistance to the use of RP in cases of gender-based violence. Using a victim-centred lens, in which it is seen as a reaction to victimization that aims to address the needs of the victim and allow them to advance in their healing process, we examine RP. Based on semi-structured interviews with 18 victims of sexual violence in Canada who participated in RP, we explore the healing potential for victims. We conclude that for victims of sexual violence, victim-centred RP should be viewed as a tool for victim support and not only as another tool in the criminal justice toolkit.
‘A shadow of me old self’: The impact of image-based sexual abuse in a digital society
This article sheds a new light on the impact of image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) on women. Drawing on findings from 17 in-depth interviews, it details the emotional, physical and social impact of this online victimisation, and how the impact of IBSA manifests in women’s everyday lives. By also using these findings as a basis to examine online victimisation more broadly, this article brings to the fore broader considerations of how technology is facilitating a mutation in forms of sexual violence causing victims to encounter impacts which are specific to, or amplified by, technology. Therefore, it calls for greater attention to be paid to the impacts of IBSA and more research into how the relationships between the online and offline worlds require us to change our understanding of victimisation in an ever-increasing digital society.
How (re) integration success and (re) integration failure is conceptualised in different contexts for women trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation
In order to adequately meet the (re) integration needs of trafficked persons, it is important to first determine how success and failure of the (re) integration process is conceptualised in post-trafficking situations. We answer this question by looking at the feedback given by service providers (N = 40) when asked what they consider to be successful (re) integration, and what they consider to be a failed (re) integration process, based on their experiences with women trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Europe. This paper first provides an overview of the different dimensions of the (re) integration process: economic, institutional and social. It also situates the concept of recovery as applied in the context of post-trafficking situations within the overall framework of (re) integration. It concludes with a discussion of particular cases of successes and failures of the (re) integration process of trafficked persons. We find that rather than speaking of definitive success of the (re) integration process, it is much closer to what happens in practice to speak of the continuum of success along different dimensions. Finally, a failure of the process is found to be when a woman returns to a situation of exploitation, or when regression or re-trafficking occurs.
Book review: Violence, Gender and Affect: Interpersonal, Institutional and Ideological Practices
Book review: What It Feels Like: Visceral Rhetoric and the Politics of Rape Culture
To pay, heal, and repair Mother Earth in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta: Experiences of indigenous women’s reparation in the implementation of the Colombian Peace Accord
This paper describes collaborative research with Wiwa and Arhuaco women concerning local reparations with an intersectional perspective on the Colombian post-conflict agreement. Our central argument is that indigenous women’s processes, experiences, and expectations of reparation reflect a wish to engage in a dialogue with the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) through its Works, Projects or Activities (TOAR) so that their perspectives on and complex conceptions of harm and reparation, as well as their relationship with social orders, bodies, and territory, can be recognized and considered in managing the risks of the revitalization of patriarchy during the post-accord period.
The power of professional ideals: Understanding and handling victims’ emotions in criminal cases
This article explores how criminal justice actors interpret and process victims’ emotional expressions. On the basis of a qualitative study on the interactions between legal institutions and victims of violence in Denmark, the article demonstrates how police officers, prosecutors, victims’ counsel and judges each separately understand and evaluate victims’ emotional reactions. These actors interpret victims’ feelings according to their own professional roles and motivations so as to gain an overview of a case and the actions required of them in relation to it, resulting in quite different perceptions of victims’ needs and degree of trustworthiness. At the same time, professionals also interact across institutions by writing and exchanging case files, and in so doing police officers’ perceptions of victim reactions are often disclosed to both prosecutors and judges. This article contributes to existing knowledge of how different professional ideals specifically influence the handling of victims and their emotional needs, while the more general consensus on ‘appropriate emotions’ simultaneously generates knowledge across professions and institutional settings.
How (re) integration success and (re) integration failure is conceptualised in different contexts for women trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation
In order to adequately meet the (re) integration needs of trafficked persons, it is important to first determine how success and failure of the (re) integration process is conceptualised in post-trafficking situations. We answer this question by looking at the feedback given by service providers (N = 40) when asked what they consider to be successful (re) integration, and what they consider to be a failed (re) integration process, based on their experiences with women trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Europe. This paper first provides an overview of the different dimensions of the (re) integration process: economic, institutional and social. It also situates the concept of recovery as applied in the context of post-trafficking situations within the overall framework of (re) integration. It concludes with a discussion of particular cases of successes and failures of the (re) integration process of trafficked persons. We find that rather than speaking of definitive success of the (re) integration process, it is much closer to what happens in practice to speak of the continuum of success along different dimensions. Finally, a failure of the process is found to be when a woman returns to a situation of exploitation, or when regression or re-trafficking occurs.
Why didn’t you resist? Situational influences on victim resistance during a rape
The purpose of this study is to examine factors influencing victim resistance during rape. Specifically, this study aims to understand which factors impact victim resistance using a multivariate approach focused on situational aspects related to offender, victim, and crime context characteristics. The sample includes 2,017 rape cases where victims did not resist, resisted passively, resisted verbally, or resisted physically. The first step of this study uses bivariate analyses to examine the relationship between the different categories of victim resistance and offender, victim, and crime context characteristics. Second, we computed three sequential binomial regressions in order to better understand the impact of each variable in multivariate modeling. The findings suggest that victim resistance is impacted by three main dimensions: victims’ physical and psychological vulnerabilities, the mentalizing of victimization risk, and the analysis of offenders’ vulnerabilities and additional risks to the victim. Both theoretical and practical implications for victims as well as for various actors in the criminal justice system are discussed.