An Investigation of the Specialist Police Service Provided to Male Rape Survivors
| Published date | 01 December 2008 |
| Author | Ray Bull,Lorraine Sheridan,Joanna Jamel |
| DOI | 10.1350/ijps.2008.10.4.101 |
| Date | 01 December 2008 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
An investigation of the specialist police
service provided to male rape survivors
Joanna Jamel‡, Ray Bull†and Lorraine Sheridan§
‡(Corresponding author) Forensic Section, School of Psychology, University of Leicester,
106 New Walk, Leicester, LE1 7EA, UK. Tel: +44 (0)116 252 5057; Fax: +44 (0)116 252
3994; email: JJ28@le.ac.uk
†Forensic Section, School of Psychology, University of Leicester, 106 New Walk, Leicester,
LE1 7EA, UK. Tel: +44 (0)116 252 5057; Fax: +44 (0)116 252 3994; email: ray.bull@le.ac.uk
§ Senior Research Fellow, School of Life Sciences, John Muir Building, Heriot-Watt
University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK.
Received 3 September 2007; Revised and accepted 30 January 2008
Keywords: male rape, police rape investigation, Sexual Offences
Investigative Technique, victims, victim support officers
Joanna Jamel
has a multidisciplinary back-
ground in sociology, criminology and investiga-
tive psychology. She is currently preparing to
submit her doctoral thesis in forensic psychology
at the University of Leicester regarding male rape
survivors: which focuses on the evaluation of
police service provisions; client perpetrated
sexual violence against male sex workers and
media representation of sex crime. Her other
research interests include rape victim resistance
strategies and trans-phobic hate crime. She is
also an external lecturer at the Criminology
Department at the University of Leicester.
Ray Bull
is Professor of Forensic Psychology at
the University of Leicester. He was part of the
small team commissioned by the Home Office to
write the 2002 government document Achieving
Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Guid-
ance for Vulnerable or Intimidated Witnesses,
Including Children (ABE). In 2002/3 he led the
small team commissioned by government to
produce an extensive training pack relating to
ABE. In 2005 he received a Commendation from
the London Metropolitan Police for ‘Innovation
and professionalism whilst assisting a complex
rape investigation’.
Lorraine Sheridan
is a Chartered Forensic Psy-
chologist and an international expert on stalking
and harassment. She has so far published four
books and more than 50 papers on this and
related subjects. Her research has taken an
applied, interventionist angle and she frequently
provides case management advice to the police,
security personnel, celebrities and others on
stalking, harassment, violence, risk assessment,
and malicious communications. Lorraine is cur-
rently a part-time Senior Research Fellow at
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.
A
BSTRACT
This study involves Sexual Offences Investiga-
tive Technique (SOIT) officers completing a semi-
structured questionnaire (disseminated with the
assistance of a British police force). This ques-
tionnaire included questions about their specialist
occupation regarding the provision of victim care,
their investigative function and how it adheres to
responsibilities outlined in policy documents
regarding expectations of the SOIT officer. Ques-
tions about service provisions were then put to
male and female rape survivors to investigate
whether a differential level of service exists regard-
ing victim gender. For example, survivors were
asked as to (i) the response of the police on
reporting, (ii) the procedures followed, (iii) the
International Journal of Police
Science and Management,
Vol. 10 No. 4, 2008, pp. 486–508.
DOI: 10.1350/ijps.2008.10.4.101
International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume 10 Number 4
Page 486
level of communication maintained throughout
their case and (iv) their suggestions for improve-
ment of the service received in light of their
experience. The police and survivor data were
analysed using thematic analysis and compared.
Key issues which were highlighted by survivors
and police officers included the importance of
regular communications about the progress of the
case. Rape survivors also expressed a lack of
confidence in the judicial system; this was more
pronounced in adult males. Furthermore, the
limited resources available to SOIT officers were
found to impact negatively on the service provided
to rape survivors.
INTRODUCTION
The police are rape victims’ first point of
contact within the criminal justice system.
Therefore, the quality and nature of the
early treatment of victims may impact on
the quality of evidence obtained, which can
in turn influence whether the complainant
proceeds with their case and frame how the
community responds. Considering the sen-
sitive nature of this crime, the 2001 British
Crime Survey (Interpersonal Violence
Module (IPV)) stated that 40 per cent of
rape survivors sampled had not informed
anyone (Office for Criminal Justice
Reform, 2006). Given the high level of
under-reporting and low level of convic-
tions, the response of agents of the criminal
justice system such as the police is pivotal.
These problems traverse international
boundaries. Torrey (1991) suggests that less
than 10 per cent of sexual assaults are
reported in the US and Canada. In Aus-
tralia, Daly (2002) found that the lowest
rate of convictions (33 per cent) was for
sexual assault in the juvenile crimes ana-
lysed. In Ireland in 2004, only 446 rapes
were reported to the Gardai (Irish police),
and the documented conviction rate is
1 per cent (Rape Crisis Network Ireland,
2007). Other sources state that between
1 per cent and 14 per cent of rapes are
reported to the police based on the varying
perceptions of the police response (Dyer,
2006). This could be due to the variance in
the level of police service across regions
resulting in a ‘postcode lottery’. More
recently, in England and Wales the reported
rates are 1,150 for male rape and 12,630 for
female rape (Feist, Ashe, Lawrence,
McPhee, & Wilson, 2007). Thus, rape irre-
spective of the age of the offender and the
country of origin poses many challenges
throughout the criminal justice process
from reporting to conviction. It is outside
the remit of this article to consider all facets
of the criminal justice system, and it is the
police response to rape survivors that is
considered here. Historically, research on
the police response to rape survivors has
concentrated on females. However, the cur-
rent pioneering study aims to begin
addressing the gap in the available literature
regarding the specialist police service provi-
sion to male rape survivors, focusing here
on the Sexual Offences Investigative
Technique (SOIT) officers of the London
Metropolitan Police.
In England and Wales, male rape was not
traditionally recognised as being as serious
as female rape (eg the maximum sentence
for buggery was 10 years, whereas for
forced penile penetration of the vagina the
perpetrator could receive a life sentence).
This legal discrepancy was amended in
19941via a gender-neutral legal definition
of rape with a maximum life sentence. This
offence encapsulates non-consensual penile
penetration of the vagina or anus, and
became more inclusive by recognising
coerced penile-oral penetration in the defi-
nition of rape in 2003.2Although this
offence has been legally recognised, there is
a notable gap in the available literature
regarding an evaluation of the specialist
police response to male rape survivors. The
focus of the current study is the London
Metropolitan Police’s (SOIT) officers’
response to male survivors of rape.
Jamel, Bull & Sheridan
Page 487
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