"Police Wouldn't Give You No Help": Female Offenders on Reporting Sexual Assault to Police.
Sexual assault remains one of the most underreported violent crimes. When victims report, they often are dissatisfied with the police response. The factors influencing one's decision to invoke the law have been widely examined. However, less research examines (a) how the victim's criminality affects this decision and (b) women offenders' characterization of their reporting decisions. We use mixed methods to explore the factors related to an offender's decision to report sexual victimization to police and consider their descriptions of police response when they do report the crime. Our findings provide insight into the gendered relations between offenders and police.
University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA carbonelopezk@umsl.edu.
Kristin
K
Carbone-Lopez
University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA.
Lee Ann
LA
Slocum
University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Candace
C
Kruttschnitt
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D057237:Criminals / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D016495:Police; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
satisfaction with police; sexual assault; victimization reporting; women offenders