The (In)credible Words of a Woman
Prof Liz Kelly
Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit
London Metropolitan University
January 2010
Dublin
In a nutshell
Historical
reminder
Credibility, myths, stereotypes and
realities
False accusations
Credibility in the legal process
The consequences of disbelief – case
examples
Directions for change
Some historical reference points
Judge Hale 16th century
Rape a capital crime – complaint “easy to be made and hard to
be proved, and harder to be defended by the party accused, tho’
never so innocent’’
Centuries
of the ‘wrong’ being to falsely accuse men
Anna Clark, Men’s Violence, Women’s Silence study of 1000 cases
reported between 1770-1845
Acquaintance 30%, Strangers 27%, employer, 20%, Courtship
5%
18th century – women only protected if ‘belonged’ to a respected
male (father/husband)
19th century – only chaste women could be raped, but if they
were chaste they could not speak about it
women and girls have always sought redress; strangers never
the majority; historical constructions of credible and deserving
victims alongside spectre of lying vengeful women
Ongoing issues
Nature of rape/nature of women – parallel
assumptions that leave women struggling for
belief
Judeo-Christian views on women – temptress,
responsible for the fall, untrustworthy
Women’s word insufficient – corroboration rule –
increased evidential burdens
Women know their word is suspect – challenge
of presentation of self in context of disbelief
‘Real’ rape
...
the determining issue in the majority of
rape cases is based on socially prevalent
myths about sexual assault and
stereotypes of female and male sexuality.
These myths in effect classify some
women as ‘real’ or ‘deserving’ rape victims
and others as ‘unrapeable’; some rapes
as ‘real’ rapes and others as ‘half won
arguments’ with no harm done. (Corbett
and Larcombe, 1993, p133)
Stereotypes and realities
Rape
happens at night, outside and
involves a weapon
Involves injuries
Is worse than being killed
Rape victims
Are strangers
Are deviant
Rape
‘Ask for it’ through their
dress/behaviour
Are niaive
Resist
Immediately tell someone/report
React in the same distressed way
Rapists
Rape victims
Act as if the world and men are safe
Are young, may have health issues
Say no
Think about whether and who to tell
React in a multitude of ways
Happens most often in the homes of
v or p
Seldom involves visible injuries
Is often routine and ordinary
Rapists
Are mostly known
Are acting within the gender order
and heteronormativity
‘Weak cases’ or a
question of perspective?
Increases in reporting not ‘real rapes’ with credible victims, ‘different’
rapes being prosecuted from 1970s
Presumptions
That most prior to 1980s = strangers: not the case even in 19C
Stranger rapes are violent, involve weapons, therefore strong
evidentially: rape by current/ex partners is among the most likely
to cause visible injuries; who is a stranger?
Rape by a known man is less damaging: additional impacts due
to betrayal of trust
Problem is ‘date rapes’ where only evidence is one persons word
against another: very few (except in student samples) take place
in context of a date, issue is targeting and failure to adapt
investigation and courtroom advocacy to known suspects
A culture of scepticism
In theory, I would say that somebody who has been raped is going
to stick quite rigidly to the account that they give, and that might be
an account they give to a uniform police officer and then to us and
then perhaps the doctor as well… whereas sometimes those that
have made a false allegation, the story may well change and
sometimes they might come out and say things that you know
couldn’t be possible… or CCTV might disprove it (Female police
officer).
… I have dealt with hundreds and hundreds of rapes in the last few
years, and I can honestly probably count on both hands the ones
that I believe are truly genuine (Male police officer).
Research findings
Police
overestimate false complaints
Half
think is more than 40%
Conflation of false, no crimed and retractions
Police
officers and prosecutors draw on stereotypes when
deciding if a report is credible - reach conclusions before
a full investigation has taken place (Stanko and Williams,
2009).
Fearing disbelief and judgement, victims of rape may try to
embellish their accounts, or conceal things, in order to
make themselves appear more ‘believable’
[Thus] police scepticism promoted the narration of the
very inaccuracies which, in turn, consolidated the police
view that women fabricate complaints and make false
allegations (Chambers and Millar, 1983, 86-7)
Rape according to police
officers
Interviews with
Typical
German offcers (Krahe, 1997)
rape
takes
place in public, outside, between strangers, after dark
with a psychologically disturbed offender
Credible
same
Dubious
rape
as above
rape
between
accused
friends, indoors in the house of the complainant or
The reality of false complaints
False
allegations are complex
Third party reports
Distress and confusion
‘real’ false complaints are often vague lacking named
individual
Range 1-9% across 11 European countries according to
police and prosecution data
When the CJS gets is wrong
150 case files four cases deemed ‘false’, later reopened and founded (Jan Jordan, 2004)
Credibility in court
Parraig and Renner, 1998 Study of 58 rape trials in US
Extensive use of rape myths in content of questions asked of
complainants
Lack of torn clothing; absence of injuries; demeanour post
assault; prior knowledge of accused; lack of/insufficient
resistance; sexual/medical history
Victim-survivors have to enact non-consent convincingly in their
evidence if the outcome is a guilty verdict
Polite but not compliant
Cooperative but not submissive
No exaggeration but talk straight
Answer promptly and precisely
Speak without shame
Current work on mock jury
trials
Large number of ways in which seek to decide is not rape
– often extra legal factors
Presence of alcohol compromises complainant
Expect medical evidence to include injuries
Especially
vaginal injuries if the victim was said to have ‘frozen’
Absence of injuries was seen to suggest there had been no rape
Expert
evidence on delayed reporting and lack of injury
changed deliberations
(Munro and Elison, 2009)
The consequences of
excessive scepticism
Malcolm Rewa
Tried
in 1998 in New Zealand for assaults on 27
women over 15 years
First report by young woman on edge of gang
he leader of – she named him, but his alibi from
gang member believed
Subsequent attacks stranger
Only later women treated with respect and care
Once charged ‘Rolls Royce treatment’ for
victims
Senior police officer – lesson = believe unless
there is evidence to the contrary
Jan
Jordan, 2008, Serial Survivors
John Worboys
51 year old licensed Black cab driver
Invited female passengers to share in his gambling win with glass of
champagne – spiked
Where women suspicious used violence
Series of reports by young professional women, but not connected
despite such a specific MO
Arrested July 2007, but believed his account of consent and alcohol,
CCTV of him kissing her
December 2007 another report dismissed as woman admitted to
previous drug use
February 2008 finally linked cases when, following an alert SARC
staff alerted them to a previous arrest
Boot of car and flat contained his ‘rape kits’
71 women came forward as case proceeded
Blogger “men are presumed innocent, women are presumed liars
Kirk Reid
Young, good-looking, athletic, popular
Combined stalking and sexual assault – targeting
women alone leaving tube/bus, attacked when getting
out keys
Link in 2002 of 25 attacks
Catalogue of errors in investigation
Name came up as one of 3 suspects, never interviewed
Car logged 30 times early in morning
No forensic tests on young woman’s clothing “the officers…
decided there was no point”
Case transferred to homicide and within 3 days Reid
was charged
Also 71 cases linked to
Unprecedented apology by police to victims, including
recognition of disbelief leading to poor investigation
Case this week
Heard in Manchester
CPS gave no evidence and judge ordered an acquittal
Young woman visiting a man having met on the internet
Her claim she agreed to sex with him, but not the four
others who arrived
The ‘evidence’ against her account were MSN
messages in which she talks about the possibility of
group sex with strangers
Prosecutor “This material does put a wholly different
light as far as this case in concerned”
Judge “This case depended on the complainants
credibility. Not to put too fine a point a point on it, her
credibility was shot to pieces”
Enhancing credibility
Must
expand understandings of rape, rape victims and
rapists’ – happens in everyday routine settings and contexts
Building cases to support the victim’s account and credibility
Previous
allegations – as indicating false or a product of attrition?
Alcohol – as risk taking by young women or targeting by predatory men?
Creating believable narratives in court (and more widely)
that ask critical questions about male behaviour
The inability to engage with cultural narratives and macho
adversarialism explains rape law reform’s failure. These primary
mechanisms by which rape jurors determine credibility are
unchanged. Consequently, unjustified acquittals mount (Taslitz,
1999, pp154-5).
Procedural justice: bringing
human rights home
And
the respect I was shown! I didn’t respect
myself, you see, so for somebody to show you that
much respect, and kindness, you start thinking, “I’m
not a bad person, I’m not this dirty person, I thought
I was, tainted, violated. They’re treating me as
normal. Something terrible has happened but
they’re treating me normally!” And you get a little
bit – you feel confident, and more in control of
things (SARC service user)
A different taxi story: Women's Artistic
Therapeutic Transportation Action
Women’s voices rising
