This book examines the justice gap and trial process for sexual assault against both adults and children in two jurisdictions: England and Wales and New South Wales, Australia. Drawing on decades of research, it investigates the reality of the policing and prosecution of sexual assault offences often seen as one of the 'hardest crimes to prosecute' across two similar jurisdictions. Despite the introduction of the many reform options detailed in the book, satisfactory outcomes for victims and the public are still difficult to obtain.

Cossins takes a new approach by examining the nature and effects of adversarialism on vulnerable witnesses, jury decision-making and the structures of power within the trial process, to show how, and at what points, that process is weighted against complainants of sexual assault, in order to make evidence-based suggestions for reform. She argues that this justice gap is a result of a moralisticadversarial culture which fosters myths and misconceptions about rape and child sexual assault, thus requiring the prosecution to prove a complainant's moral worthiness. She argues this culture can only be eliminated by a radical replacement of the adversarial system with a trauma-informed system. By reviewing the relevant psychological literature, this book documents the triggers for re-traumatisation within an adversarial trial, and discusses the reform measures that would be necessary to transform the sexual assault trial from one where the complainant's moral worthiness is 'on trial' to a fully functioning trauma-informed system. It speaks to students and academics across subjects including law, criminology, gender studies and psychology, and practitioners in law and victim services, as well as policy-makers.

Presents decades of research including the 2019 NSW Law Reform Commission report First book of its kind to examine key reform issues associated with trial processes specifically Appeals to academics, students and policy makers in the area of sexual assault and legislative reform

Autorentext

Anne Cossins is Professor of Law and Criminology in the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Australia. She is the pre-eminent Australian expert on legal reform in the area of sexual assault and a scholar in theoretical criminology. She was the founder and Convenor of the National Child Sexual Assault Reform Committee in Australia and has been, and still is a member of various government committees, boards and councils dealing with sexual assault and domestic violence issues.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. The Nature and Effects Of Adversarialism: Jury Decision Making In Sexual Assault Trials.- 3. Factors That Predict Outcomes in Sexual Assault Trials.- 4. 'Commonsense' Or 'Life Experience': Jurors' Perceptions Of Guilt.- 5. 'No Means Yes And Yes Means Anal': The Cultural Climate In Which Sex Offences Are Prosecuted.- 6. The Nature And Effects Of Adversarialism . Sites Of Activation For Heuristic Reasoning Processes.- 7. Modernisation Of The Substantive Law Of Consent.- 8. Cross Examination In Sexual Assault Trials: Evidentiary Safeguard Or An Opportunity To Confuse?.- 9. Contemporary Reforms To Cross-Examination.- 10 . The Problems Facing Reformers Of The Sexual Assault Trial.- 11. Achieving Best Evidence For Vulnerable Witnesses: The Use Of Trauma-Informed Theory To Reform The Sexual Assault Trial.- 12. Reform Measures: The Devil Is In The Detail.