Clinical practice
Leda and the Swan – And other myths about rape

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2011.04.010Get rights and content

Abstract

In his David Jenkins Memorial Lecture, Dr Norfolk discusses rape and some of the myths that surround the topic, exploring the research evidence about conviction rates, false allegations, clinician gender preferences of rape victims and the role of sexual assault referral centres in service delivery.

Introduction

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you for the honour you have done me by inviting me to deliver the David Jenkins Professorial lecture. As I stand before you, I am conscious of the fact that I have the opportunity to ensure that the memory and reputation of David Jenkins lives on and is celebrated this evening. This is an opportunity that I do not take lightly as David was a dear friend who had a huge influence on forensic and legal medicine through his long life of exemplary endeavour in the speciality. It truly is a privilege to be delivering this lecture in his honour.

In preparing for this lecture I have undertaken a literature review and wish to talk about rape and, in particular, some of the myths that surround the subject.

Section snippets

The rape of Leda

Myths were part of the religion in ancient Greece and modern scholars continue to study them in an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of the Ancient Greeks and their civilisation. I have taken for the title of this talk one such Greek myth, namely the rape of Leda.

The story is familiar enough. Zeus was attracted to Leda and, assuming the shape of a Swan, raped her when she was having a swim. The rape is said to have taken place on the same night that Leda slept

Rape in England and Wales

Rape is a terrible crime – a crime that happens too often. Victims may be women, men, children, people of all ages and all social groups. It is a unique violation that can cause severe and long lasting harm to victims. In addition to the immense personal cost to the victims there is also a financial cost to society. In 2003–04, the overall cost to society of sexual offences was estimated at £8.5 billion, with each rape costing over £76,000.1 Much of this cost is made up of lost output and costs

Conviction rates for rape

“There has been progress in tackling rape; but the fact is conviction rates are far too low”.4

Solicitor General Vera Baird QC

Only about 6.5% of reported rapes result in a conviction. This figure has been the subject of much political and media attention.5 Whilst some may have found the figure helpful to use as a campaigning tool for an improvement in the way rape cases are dealt with, the figure is misleading and needs to be considered in greater detail.

The way the conviction rate for rape is

False allegations

The question of false allegations comes up time and again in any discussion about rape, with some arguing that the number of such allegations is large and others insisting that the prevalence is grossly exaggerated. Before looking at the evidence relating to the prevalence of such allegations, it is worthwhile considering what we mean by the term ‘false allegation’ and reflecting on some of the reasons people may make false complaints of rape to the police.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of any

The gender of sexual offence examiners

It has long been accepted that complainants of rape should be offered a choice when it comes to the gender of examining forensic physician31 but there are now increasing calls for an all female service. A paper by Chowdhury-Hawkins et al purports to provide empirical evidence that female staff should be considered as the primary gender of staff providing services to complainant’s of rape.32 In order to support this contention, the authors quote three papers that are said to suggest that “both

A sexual assault referral centre (SARC) in every police force

There is strong evidence that SARCs are successful at providing appropriate treatment to complainants of recent sexual violence18, 40. However, in terms of criminal justice outcomes, there is no firm answer to the question of whether, or to what extent, SARCs reduce attrition. Given that there is also an important gap in knowledge about the range and effectiveness of different models in the expanding SARC network, calls for a national, multi-site study of SARCs and their effectiveness appear

Conclusion

Mr President, Ladies and Gentleman, as I hope I have demonstrated, rape is a unique crime surrounded by many myths and misunderstandings. Just as, over the centuries, the ambiguous depiction of the Rape of Leda sent out confusing messages about the very nature of rape, so have more modern myths about rape run the risk of confusing the thoughts of those who genuinely seek to improve the way rape is investigated and prosecuted. For example, for no other offence are there such concerns about a

Ethical approval

None.

Role of funding source

None.

Conflict of interest

None declared.

Acknowledgements

My thanks to Anthony Heaton-Armstrong and Robert Whiston for their helpful comments and assistance in finding source material.

References (48)

  • Crime where only 6.5% of cases end in conviction

    (March 14, 2009)

    Rape audit ordered as figures show Britain has ‘lowest conviction rates in Europe’

    (May 15, 2009)

  • Beware rape myths, judges to tell jurors

    (June 15, 2009)

  • Sexual assault research summary report

    (2005)
  • L. Ellison et al.

    Of ‘Normal sex’ and ‘Real rape’: exploring the use of socio-sexual scripts in (Mock) jury deliberation

    Soc Leg Stud

    (2009)
  • L. Ellison et al.

    Reacting to rape: exploring mock jurors’ assessments of complainant credibility

    Br J Criminol

    (2009)

  • Lord Judge calls for jury system that caters for computer generation

    (October 21, 2009)
  • C. Thomas

    Are juries fair?

    (February 2010)
  • A. Feist et al.

    Investigating and detecting recorded offences of rape

    (2007)
  • K. Daly et al.

    Rape and attrition in the legal process: a comparative analysis of five countries

    (2009)

  • More or less

    (August 24, 2009)

  • Criminal statistics: England and Wales

    (2010)

  • Rape cases: police admit failing victims. The Guardian

    (March 4, 2010)
  • G. Adshead

    Psychological trauma and its influence on genuine and false complaints of sexual assault

    Med Sci Law

    (1996)
  • L. Kelly et al.

    A gap or a chasm? Attrition in reported rape cases

    (2005)

    • Cited by (6)

    View full text
    Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.