Abstract
This chapter presents concepts, conceptions and themes pertaining to the police, policing and male rape, to consider the different ways in which the police deal with male rape victims and to examine their attitudes and opinions regarding male rape. The empirical findings draw attention to some male rape myths that the police subscribe to, such as, though not limited to, “women cannot rape men” and “male rape is solely a homosexual issue.” The author provides a wealth of police data to argue that the police often perpetuate male rape myths, discrimination, and poor attitudes and responses against male victims of rape.
Keywords
- Police responses
- Policing
- Secondary victimisation
- ‘Culture of disbelief’
- Policy and practice
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
This refers to police training being gendered, whereby training is only focused on females and women as rape victims, not men.
References
Abdullah-Khan, N. (2008). Male Rape: The Emergence of a Social and Legal Issue. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Connell, R. W. (2005). Masculinities (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept. Gender and Society, 19(6), 829–859.
Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, & Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary. (2007). Without Consent: A Report on the Joint Review of the Investigation and Prosecution of Rape Offences. London: Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.
Jamel, J. (2008). An Investigation of the Prevalence, Response to, and Representation of Male Rape. Ph.D. thesis. Retrieve from https://lra.le.ac.uk/bitstream/2381/7407/1/2009jamelphd.pdf.
Javaid, A. (2016). Giving a Voice to the Voiceless: Police Responses to Male Rape. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 11(2), 146–156.
Kelly, L. (1988). Surviving Sexual Violence. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Loftus, B. (2009). Police Culture in a Changing World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Loftus, B. (2010). Police Occupational Culture: Classic Themes, Altered Times. Policing and Society, 20(1), 1–22.
Lowe, M., & Balfour, B. (2015). The Unheard Victims. The Psychologist, 28(2), 118–121.
Mawby, R. I. (2016). Victim Support in England and Wales: The End of an Era? International Review of Victimology (Advance Online Publication), 22(3), 203–221.
McLean, I. A. (2013). The Male Victim of Sexual Assault. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 27(1), 39–46.
Messerschmidt, J. W. (2018). Hegemonic Masculinity: Formulation, Reformulation, and Amplification. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Reiner, R. (2010). The Politics of the Police (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rumney, P., & Hanley, N. (2011).Gendering Rape: Social Attitudes Towards Male and Female Rape. In J. Jones, A. Grear, R. A. Fenton, & K. Stevenson (Eds.), Gender, Sexualities and Law (pp. 135–147). New York: Routledge.
Rumney, P., & McCartan, K. (2017). Purported False Allegations of Rape, Child Abuse and Non-sexual Violence: Nature, Characteristics and Implications. Journal of Criminal Law, 81(6), 497–520.
Sleath, E., & Bull, R. (2012). Comparing Rape Victim and Perpetrator Blaming in a Police Officer Sample: Differences Between Police Officers with and Without Special Training. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39(5), 646–665.
Smith, O. (2018). Rape Trials in England and Wales: Observing Justice and Rethinking Rape Myths. Hampshire: Palgrave.
Venema, R. M. (2016). Police Officer Schema of Sexual Assault Reports: Real Rape, Ambiguous Cases, and False Reports. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 31(5), 872–899.
Waterhouse, G. F., Reynolds, A., & Egan, V. (2016). Myths and Legends: The Reality of Rape Offences Reported to a UK Police Force. The European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context, 8, 1–10.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Javaid, A. (2018). The Criminal Justice System and Male Rape: Processing Male Rape Cases. In: Male Rape, Masculinities, and Sexualities. Palgrave Hate Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52639-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52639-3_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-52638-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-52639-3
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)