Victims'/Survivors' Perceptions of South Australia Police Responses to Rape

By Katherine J McLachlan

Women who have been raped rarely report their assaults to police. Researchers have attributed this to a range of reasons, both personal and systemic, including the influence of stereotypes and myths about rape on victims’/survivors’ decision- making. Rape myths often reflect community attitudes, social norms and police responses. For example, victims/survivors may blame themselves and also expect police will blame or disbelieve them. Such expectations (or subsequent experiences) of negative police responses undermine victims’/survivors’ faith in police. Poor or uncertain expectations held by victims/survivors are often borne out in reality, for police responses to rape are typically inconsistent and unpredictable. The potential diversity of responses is reflected in the mixed experiences reported by victims/survivors in my study.

Faculty of Education, Humanities, Law and Theology,, March 2007, 256p.