scholarly journals The Impact of Rape Law Reform on the Processing of Simple and Aggravated Rape Cases

1996 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 861 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassia C. Spohn ◽  
Julie Horney
Keyword(s):  
Law Reform ◽  
Rape Law ◽  
Rape Law Reform ◽  
The Impact

The Impact of Rape Law Reform: An Aggregate Analysis of Police Reports and Arrests

1994 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald J. Berger ◽  
W. Lawrence Neuman ◽  
Patricia Searles
Keyword(s):  
Law Reform ◽  
Aggregate Analysis ◽  
Rape Law ◽  
Rape Law Reform ◽  
Police Reports ◽  
The Impact

‘Real Rape’, Law Reform and The Role of Research: The Evolution of the Victorian Crimes (Rape) Act 1991

1994 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Brereton
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Rape Law ◽  
Rape Law Reform ◽  
Constructive Dialogue ◽  
History Of ◽  
Symbolic Content ◽  
The Impact

This paper provides a brief history of the Victorian Crimes (Rape) Act 1991 and examines the role which social science research played in the development of this legislation. The Crimes (Rape) Act was modelled closely on a report of the Law Reform Commission of Victoria. In preparing this report, the Commission undertook a comprehensive quantitative study of rape prosecutions in Victoria, as well as drawing on empirical studies from other jurisdictions. The paper concludes that the impact of the research on the development of the legislation was limited by a number of factors: the decision-making process was relatively unstructured, involved a large number of players, was highly politicised, and had a high symbolic content. However, the collection and dissemination of reliable data did take some of the heat and hyperbole out of the debate, and thereby facilitated a more constructive dialogue. This factor alone made the research worthwhile, given that the rape law reform had in the past been a highly divisive issue in Victoria.

Consent, Rape, and the Criminal Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine K. Baker ◽  
Michelle Oberman
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Rape Culture ◽  
Unwanted Sex ◽  
Ample Evidence ◽  
Rape Law ◽  
Rape Law Reform ◽  
The Law ◽  
Reporting Rates ◽  
The Impact

This article explores the impact of rape law reform, both within and beyond the criminal law. The story of U.S. criminal rape law reform tends to be told as one of remarkable feminist success followed by widespread stagnation. Despite comprehensive changes in the law, reporting rates, prosecution rates, and conviction rates for rape increased only slightly. This article resists that binary account of success and failure by offering a more nuanced assessment. It argues that, by changing rape’s definition to an inquiry focused on whether the victim consented, the law has facilitated a shift in cultural and institutional norms governing unwanted sex. It is naïve to think that a change in law would, on its own, end rape culture, but there is ample evidence to support the conclusion that rape law reform has played a central role in reducing society’s tolerance of the rape prerogatives that have held sway for millennia.

Rape law reform in Britain

Society ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 57-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Hinchliffe
Keyword(s):  
Law Reform ◽  
Rape Law ◽  
Rape Law Reform

The Modern Politics of Sexual Assault Prosecution

2020 ◽  
pp. 13-18
Author(s):  
Matthew Barry Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Acquaintance Rape ◽  
Common Type ◽  
Reform Movement ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Legal Process ◽  
Rape Law ◽  
Modern Politics ◽  
Rape Law Reform ◽  
The Us

This chapter presents and discusses the “rape law reform” movement that emerged in the 1970s. The movement sought reforms designed to encourage victims to make official reports and facilitate the successful prosecution of rape and sexual assault. The movement achieved legislative and practice reform, but there was no discernible increase in sexual assault convictions. The rape law reform movement solidified an alliance of concern that strengthened vigorous prosecution of “stranger rapes” but had little impact on the more common type of rape, “acquaintance rape.” Rape law reform advocacy produced dramatic and rapid legislative change, change that was clearly warranted not only for victims of sexual assault, but also reform that contributed to the integrity of the US legal process.

scholarly journals Attitudes, Rape and Law Reform in South Africa

2009 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 414-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charnelle van der Bijl ◽  
Philip N. S. Rumney
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Social Attitudes ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Judicial Decision Making ◽  
Rape Law ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Process ◽  
The Impact

In the last decade South Africa has undergone an extensive process of sexual offence law reform. This process has attempted, amongst other things, to address deficiencies in the criminal justice response to rape and has also recognised some of the limits to the impact of legal reform. These limits are partly defined by rape supportive attitudes and myths that appear to influence decision-making at all points in the criminal justice process. In South Africa, and many other jurisdictions, evidence suggests that police, prosecutorial and judicial decision-making is influenced, in part, by a range of social attitudes that misconstrue sexual violence, as well as serve to undermine the credibility of complainants. This article examines the impact of myths, social definitions of rape on rape law reform in South Africa and the points at which these reforms are likely to be undermined by social attitudes and what potentially might be done to address this problem.

Rape Law Reform: How Far Have We Come?

1988 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-10
Author(s):  
Diane M. Daane
Keyword(s):  
Law Reform ◽  
Rape Law ◽  
Rape Law Reform
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