By Sarah Anderson and Lisel Petis

For decades, the justice system has failed to recognize how deeply intertwined women’s victimization and criminalization are. A serious response requires policies that account for trauma, economic instability, relational dynamics, health differences, and other factors that drive many women into the system. Executive Summary Far too often, when a woman meets the justice system, it is first as a victim of violence and later as a defendant charged with criminal activity. As victims, it is not uncommon for women to find their voices lost in the criminal justice discussion. As defendants, relevant context, including trauma, coercion, and the fight to survive, is rarely considered in courtrooms—especially in cases of self-defense, substance misuse, and human trafficking. This lack of acknowledgment leaves women doubly failed: They are denied justice when harmed, and they are punished harshly if victimization later shapes their actions. The rapid increase of women in the justice system over the past 40 years has exposed how poorly equipped current policies are to respond to the realities of women’s experiences and specific needs. Traditional reforms have focused on men in the justice system, overlooking that women’s pathways into the system are frequently rooted in abuse, caregiving pressures, and economic instability. By failing to recognize the distinctneeds of women, the system has expanded incarceration without improving public safety or addressing the underlying drivers of women’s involvement in the justice system. This policy paper explores women’s involvement with the justice system in three primary contexts: as victims, as defendants, and as both. Across these forms of justice system involvement, common themes emerge: low reporting and conviction rates for gender-based violence; rising rates of female incarceration tied to poverty, substance misuse, and punitive policies; and persistent issues in offering effective approaches for victim-defendants (i.e., those whose criminal behavior stems from abuse). The result is a system that broadly fails to deliver safety, fairness, or legitimacy. Key Policy Recommendations: • Strengthen victims’ rights and recourse by enacting notification laws, guaranteeing rights to proceedings, training system practitioners in trauma-informed approaches, and expanding the availability of victimcentered alternatives to prosecution • Improve justice for female defendants by integrating gender-responsive programming and reentry practices, providing access to gender-specific health supplies and services, adopting clear policies and oversight around pregnancies, and investing in specialized courts • Protect and support victim-defendants by granting victim immunity, passing survivor justice laws, adjusting mandatory arrest laws and laws meant to prevent sexual abuse in carceral settings, and training criminal justice professionals in trauma-informed practices.

R Street Policy Study No. 335 Washington,DC: R Street, 2025. 18p.

By Dee Smythe

More than 1 000 women are raped in South Africa every day. Around 150 of those women will report the crime to the police. Fewer than 30 of the cases will be prosecuted and no more than 10 will result in a conviction. This translates into an overall conviction rate of 4–8 per cent of reported cases. What happens to all the other cases?

Rape Unresolved is concerned with the question of police discretion and how its exercise shapes the criminal justice response to rape in South Africa. Through a detailed, qualitative review of rape dockets and victim statements, as well as interviews with detectives, prosecutors, magistrates and rape counsellors, the author provides key insights into police responses to rape.

A complex picture emerges, of myths and stereotypes, of skills deficits, of disengagement by police as well as victims. Responsibility for the investigation of the cases – and their ultimate failure – is shifted onto the complainants, who must constantly prove their commitment to the criminal justice process in order to be taken seriously.

The vast majority of rape victims who approach the criminal justice system in South Africa do not receive justice or protection. This book uncovers the fault line between the state’s rhetorical commitment to addressing sexual violence through legal guarantees and the actual application of these laws.

Cape Town: University of Cape Town, 2022. 

By South Australia Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence 

Domestic abuse In some parts of this report the term ‘domestic abuse’ is used instead of domestic, family and sexual violence. This reflects the terminology used in the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009 (SA), in certain other legislative provisions and by South Australia Police in some circumstances. LGBTQIA+ This acronym stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, queer, intersex and asexual communities. The + signifies those who do not necessarily identify with any of the listed labels, but who do not conform to traditional heteronormative standards. Where the report departs from the use of this acronym, it is to reflect a specific service, organisation or group of people. Lived experience and Victim-survivor The use of the term ‘person with lived experience’ carries an acknowledgment that, for many people with lived experience of domestic, family and sexual violence, the experience is both lived and living – it is ongoing. The Commission’s Terms of Reference, Issues Paper and The Journey So Far use the term ‘victim-survivor’. This term acknowledges the ongoing effects and harm caused by violence, as well as honouring the strength and resilience of people who have experienced violence The Commission has also used the term ‘person experiencing violence’ and ‘person with lived experience of violence’ throughout its inquiry. This report uses all of these terms in acknowledgement of the diversity of preferences across individuals and the sector. It is important to remember that these terms include children and young people, who experience domestic, family and sexual violence and are victim-survivors in their own right. The Commission’s Terms of Reference explicitly refer to this, along with the need to recognise that the overwhelming majority of victim-survivors are women and children. Person using violence This report uses the term ‘person who uses violence’ when referring to an individual who uses domestic, family or sexual violence to cause harm to another. This report occasionally uses different terminology in particular contexts; for example, ‘perpetrator’ is used in the context of particular programs or services that use that term, ‘offender’ is used in the context of South Australia Police operations and policies, and ‘accused’, ‘defendant’ or ‘respondent’ is used in the context of the justice system. As outlined in the Commission’s Terms of Reference, it is recognised that the overwhelming majority of people who use violence are men.   

 Adelaide, South Australia Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, 2025. 664p.

By Sarah Anegg, Daniela Doerfler, Wolfgang Bicker, Serena Paola Gonzalez Barias, Florian Heinzl, Jakob Schwazer, Sabine Eder, Ksenia Krögler-Halpern, Christine Sam, and Karin Windsperger 

Drug-Facilitated Crimes (DFCs) involve criminal offenses where the victim's intoxicated state plays a central role. The substances used, often central nervous system depressants, are challenging to detect, leading to a high rate of undiagnosed cases. As a result, DFCs remain a form of violence that is weakly characterized. This cross-sectional study analyzed 1104 violence-related cases presented to the Children and Victim Protection Center (CAVPC) at a tertiary hospital. Of these, 12.2 % were suspected to be DFCs between 2014 and 2019, while 38.5 % were suspected to be DFCs between 2020 and 2023 (p < 0.001). This suggests a 544 % increase in the volume of DFC-related cases between the two time periods. Victims were predominantly female (86.4 %) and aged 20–30 years, though a concurrent rise in male victims, from 3.5 % in 2014–2019–15.1 % in 2020–2023 was also observed (p = 0.01). Perpetrators were primarily male (96.2 %), acted alone, and were known to the victim in 51.9 % of the cases. The crimes, which predominantly occurred in private settings between 2014 and 2019, increasingly took place in public spaces between 2020 and 2023 (p = 0.01), where alcohol was present, and peaked on weekends (especially Saturdays) and during late-night and early-morning hours. Most victims exhibited signs of amnesia (91.8 %) and physical injuries (58.4 %). Alarmingly, only 38.5 % of victims sought help within 12 h, significantly reducing the chances of detecting certain substances. Cannabinoids, cocaine, diphenhydramine, paracetamol and lidocaine were the most commonly identified substances in blood and urine. These findings highlight the urgent need for action, including implementing preventive measures, raising awareness, and reducing stigma – an approach that could help address the growing global public health concern of DFCs.

Forensic Science International Volume 374, September 2025, 112552