'It is Not for Me to Say Whether Consent Was Given or Not': Forensic Medical Examiners' Construction of 'Neutral Reports' in Rape Cases
'It is Not for Me to Say Whether Consent Was Given or Not': Forensic Medical Examiners' Construction of 'Neutral Reports' in Rape Cases
复制标题
DOI：
10.1177/0964663910362291
复制
发表时间：
2010-09-01
影响因子：
1.6
通讯作者：
Rees, Gethin
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Rees, Gethin
一些调查研究概述了“真实的强奸”陈规定型观念在检察官关于强奸案件通过刑事司法系统的进展的决定中所起的作用。根据“真实的强奸”的陈规定型观念，受害者应在身体受到严重伤害的情况下参加医疗检查，因此，警察、检察官和陪审员在决定申诉人指控的真实性时，会考虑伤害证据。然而，法医研究表明，受伤是罕见的，即使存在，同意不能被驳回。为此，几乎在所有案件中，法医都出具“中立报告”;报告既不证实也不否认申诉人的指控。在这篇文章中，我探讨了FME对中立报告的理由，并发现他们的生产加强了FME的专业知识。FME构建边界，使自己远离有争议的问题。虽然这种界限确保了权威性，但它们限制了证据的重要性，这反过来又为检方提供了一个空间，可以驳回不符合人们对强奸的普遍理解的证据。这种“恶性循环”的起诉决策消除了机会，为FME解释伤害证据的限制，警察，检察官和陪审团，并加强了相信，伤害是强奸攻击的必然结果。
Attrition rate studies have outlined the role the 'real rape' stereotype plays in prosecutor decisions concerning the progression of rape cases through the criminal justice system. According to the 'real rape' stereotype, the victim should attend the medical examination with significant physical injury, and therefore police, prosecutors and jurors take injury evidence into consideration when deciding the veracity of the complainant's allegation. However, forensic medical studies have shown injuries to be rare, and even when present, consent cannot be dismissed. To this end, in nearly all cases Forensic Medical Examiners (FMEs) produce 'neutral reports'; reports that neither confirm nor deny the complainant's allegation. In this article I explore FMEs' justifications for neutral reports, and find that their production reinforces FMEs' expertise. FMEs construct boundaries, distancing themselves from contentious issues. While such boundaries ensure authority, they limit evidential significance, which in turn provides a space for the prosecution to dismiss evidence that does not conform to the popular understanding of rape. Such a 'vicious cycle' of prosecutorial decision-making removes the opportunity for FMEs to explain the limits of injury evidence to the police, prosecutors and the jury and reinforces the belief that injuries are a necessary outcome of rape assaults.