Is police investigation of rape biased by characteristics of victims?

Bjarte Frode Vik; Kirsten Rasmussen; Berit Schei; Cecilie Therese Hagemann

doi:10.1016/j.fsisyn.2020.02.003

Is police investigation of rape biased by characteristics of victims?

Forensic Sci Int Synerg. 2020 Feb 22:2:98-106. doi: 10.1016/j.fsisyn.2020.02.003. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Bjarte Frode Vik^{1

2

3}, Kirsten Rasmussen^{4

5

6}, Berit Schei^{7

8}, Cecilie Therese Hagemann^{1

8}

Affiliations

¹ Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, P.B. 8905, N-7491, Trondheim, Norway.
² Department of Research and Development, Psychiatry, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.
³ St. Olavs Hospital, Department of Neuropsychiatry, P.B. 3250 Torgarden, N-7006, Trondheim, Norway.
⁴ Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Department of Psychology, 7491, Trondheim, Norway.
⁵ Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Trondheim, Norway.
⁶ St. Olavs Hospital, Forensic Research Unit, Brøset, P.B. 1803 Lade, 7440, Trondheim, Norway.
⁷ Department of Public Health and Nursing, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, P.B. 8905, N-7491, Trondheim, Norway.
⁸ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology St. Olavs Hospital, P.B. 3250 Sluppen, N-7006, Trondheim, Norway.

Abstract

Aim: To explore differences in police investigations between cases of rape against women with and without vulnerability factors.

Methods: Retrospective, descriptive study of cases of rape against women ≥16 years of age. Cases involving victims with and without vulnerability factors were compared regarding the quality of police investigation.

Results: Vulnerability was present among 68% of the victims. Cases with vulnerable victims had an adjusted odds ratio for a low-quality police investigation of 2.1 (95% CI [1.0-4.4]) compared to cases where victims were non-vulnerable.

Conclusions: Our results do not prove that rape myths existed among police officers. Our findings show a trend indicating that vulnerable victims may have been less prioritized compared to non-vulnerable victims. More studies are needed regarding how the police respond to rape complaints and to what degree police investigations are influenced by different characteristics of victims.

Keywords: Police investigation; Rape; Rape myths; Victim vulnerability.