NCJ Number
93438
Date Published
1981
Length
22 pages
Annotation
Until the time when the rape victim is no longer looked upon with suspicion and distrust, rapists are likely to continue to commit the crime with impunity. The bias against the rape victim will only disappear if people become aware of the quandary in which she has been placed by a society which tends to adopt the male perspective.
Abstract
The law of rape is such that it is highly unlikely to produce an inordinate number of false convictions. Although most jurisdictions still pay lip service to the common law rule which permits a conviction based on the uncorroborated testimony of the complainant, corroboration is usually necessary whenever the testimony is incredible, contradictory, or improbable. Several States require corroboration in all rape cases; a number of others require it in special cases. Commentators raise several arguments to justify more stringent proof requirements for rape accusations. First is the assumption that men are often imprisoned unjustly due to false accusations. However, there is no reason to assume that juries are less able to deal with fabrications in rape than they are in other cases. The second argument falls back on the old myth that the woman secretly wants to be raped. The amount of other violence that accompanies over 80 percent of all rapes negates this notion. The concentration on the reputation of the prosecutrix, as if she were the one whose guilt were to be determined, is an indication of the bias against the rape victim in the current system. Police may dismiss a case merely because the victim is suspected of being promiscuous, particularly if she is black. At a trial, evidence of bad reputation or unchastity is generally admissible as substantive evidence bearing on the consent of the prosecutrix. The jury is more likely to sympathize with the assailant, particularly when there is evidence to the parties having known each other. Male jurors are particularly likely to be unsympathetic, presumably because they can identify with the male offender more than with the female victim. Jurors of both sexes may allow the reputation of the prosecutrix to influence them on issues other than consent. This would explain the fact that prostitutes stand little chance of obtaining a conviction for rape, even though they are often the victims of gang rapes. Even if a victim does not precipitate a rape, has a good reputation, and is mentally well-adjusted, her efforts to have her assailant convicted may nevertheless go unrewarded if the jury feels that she has not shown enough resistance. Suggested changes to Federal Criminal laws concerning rape are examined. Over 120 notes are included. (Author summary modified)