Speakers:
- Katherine Lorenz, Department of Criminology and Justice Studies, California State University at Northridge - ResearchGate

- Rachel Venema: ResaerchGate

Abstract: »Sexual assault is a highly underreported crime with few cases proceeding to the point of charges and prosecution. Case attrition may, in part, be due to negative attitudes and rape myth acceptance in police decision making. An examination of the evidentiary and extralegal factors influencing officer decision making and case outcomes is necessary in order to address the issue of differential processing of sexual assault cases in the criminal justice system. This presentation uses police data of sexual assault case files from 1999 to 2014 (N = 23,525) to examine the assault, victim, and detective characteristics that contribute to case outcomes of unfounded, cleared, and exceptionally cleared through arrest and victim refusal to prosecute. Logistic regression models tested 15 years of reported sexual assault data from one large police department and found that elements that correspond with rape myth acceptance were predictive of unfounded, cleared, and exceptionally cleared case decisions. Overall, results support previous contentions that sexual assault victims have unequal access to legal justice, particularly victims possessing demographic and assault characteristics that do not align with stereotypical notions of rape. We conclude the presentation with a discussion of implications for practice and directions for future research.« (Source: Online Program)

Wikipedia: History of the Americas: History of the United States / History of the United States (1980-1991), History of the United States (2008-present) | Sex and the law: Sexual assault / Sex crimes in the United States