'A lot of the time it's dealing with victims who don't want to know, it's all made up, or they've got mental health': rape myths in a large English police force

Article

Gekoski, A., Massey, K., Allen, K., Ferreira, J., Dalton, C.T., Horvath, M. and Davies, K. 2024. 'A lot of the time it's dealing with victims who don't want to know, it's all made up, or they've got mental health': rape myths in a large English police force. International Review of Victimology. 30 (1), pp. 3-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/02697580221142891
TypeArticle
Title'A lot of the time it's dealing with victims who don't want to know, it's all made up, or they've got mental health': rape myths in a large English police force
AuthorsGekoski, A., Massey, K., Allen, K., Ferreira, J., Dalton, C.T., Horvath, M. and Davies, K.
Abstract

Despite an increase in the reporting of rape, convictions in England and Wales have fallen significantly in recent years. Previous research has found high rape myth acceptance among police officers. Given that the police act as gatekeepers to the criminal justice system, subscribing to rape myths may have significant effects upon victim attrition and conviction rates. This study explores police officers’ use of rape myths and how these may impact investigations and prosecutions. A total of 17 semi-structured interviews were conducted with police officers from a large English police force. The interview data were analysed using the qualitative method of thematic analysis. Although there were instances where officers demonstrated some awareness of the need to dispel or counter rape myths, rape myths were employed by most officers, with the most common relating to (1) victim fabrication (‘women lie’) and (2) victim precipitation (‘women ask for it’). Recommendations are made around screening and training for police officers.

KeywordsRape myths; police officers; victims; rape myth acceptance; investigation
Sustainable Development Goals16 Peace, justice and strong institutions
3 Good health and well-being
Middlesex University ThemeHealth & Wellbeing
PublisherSAGE Publications
JournalInternational Review of Victimology
ISSN0269-7580
Electronic2047-9433
Publication dates
Online11 Jan 2023
PrintJan 2024
Publication process dates
Accepted2023
Deposited21 May 2025
Output statusPublished
Publisher's version
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Open
Copyright Statement

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1177/02697580221142891
Web of Science identifierWOS:000911855800001
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