City Research Online

Abstract

Procedural justice theory has much to say about police-citizen interactions, but the high-stakes, long-duration and quite specific nature of police investigations involving rape and sexual assault victims compel us to re-examine and re-conceptualise some of its core propositions. We draw on data from the largest national survey of rape and sexual assault victims’ experiences of the police in the UK. We find that negative officer behaviour can signal to sexual violence victims that they are not deserving of agency, connectedness, competence and care. For rape and sexual assault victims, police investigations are relational journeys of (mis)recognition and (mis)affirmation with profound impacts on victim’s personal well-being and subjective access to police safeguarding and criminal justice.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in The British Journal of Criminology following peer review. The version of record will be available online at: 10.1093/bjc/azaf004
Publisher Keywords:	rape; sexual violence; police; procedural justice; secondary victimisation
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
Departments:	School of Policy & Global Affairs School of Policy & Global Affairs > Sociology & Criminology
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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