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The research of Prof Jennifer Temkin on rape myths and stereotypes has influenced the way in which rape trials are conducted and drawn the attention of participants in the criminal trial process to the dangers of stereotyping victims and defendants.
The effects of Temkin's research include:
Research by the UCL Jury Project has directly influenced government and judicial policies and practices and public debate both in the UK and abroad. It has:
Legislation, policy and practice surrounding the criminal justice response to rape in Scotland have been profoundly influenced by the work of Professor Michele Burman. Her research directly informed the Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2002, and continues to influence policy and practice guidance. Her research on rape attrition/conviction rates informed changes to investigative/prosecutorial responses. Her work was drawn on in the Scottish Law Commission's review of the law of rape and informed the subsequent Sexual Offences 2009 Act which introduced radical changes to the definitions of rape and of consent. Burman's research has been adopted by Rape Crisis Scotland in national campaigns, and crucially informed training materials for the judiciary in Scotland and abroad.
Since 2000 the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Centre (CWASU) has produced a body of research that has had significant impact for victim-survivors of violence against women (VAW) at policy and practice levels. We have evaluated new and emerging forms of support provision (Sexual Assault Referral Centres), tracked attrition in criminal justice responses to rape in England, Wales and Europe, mapped the `postcode lottery' of specialist services across Great Britain, and developed minimum standards for specialist services across Europe. Our research highlighted promising practices that led to a national rollout of specific forms of provision and central government funding for specialist services. We were among the first researchers in the UK to draw on human rights principles to illuminate the responsibilities of states to provide services, principles further elaborated in the 2011 Council of Europe Convention. Evidence here demonstrates that responses to victim-survivors across a number of arenas — criminal justice, specialist NGOs, and statutory health agencies — have been enhanced at an unprecedented level because of our work. More widely, our research has rekindled scholarship on sexual violence.
CWASU's role as independent academics... is crucial for both the voluntary and community sector and for statutory bodies like the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime. They understand the issues on the ground from the perspectives of women and girls and... have developed cutting edge research and responses to complex problems to provide a robust evidence base for the sector to use in their advocacy work (Policy and Delivery Officer, Violence against women and gangs, Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime).
The ... evaluations of models of service delivery are invaluable in providing us with the information and tools to undertake the work that we do, both nationally and locally. The knowledge that we gain from CWASU informs and shapes our work as we continue to strive for improved responses to violence against women (Manager, Women's Aid, England).
Violence against women is a feature of personal and social life across the globe; ignorance of the nature and extent of this violence is just as widespread. In the UK alone, one in four women experience domestic violence, 60% of which goes unreported; in France, there were an estimated 84,000 rape victims in 2012, although, similarly, there is much under-reporting. Despite fears being focused on attacks by strangers, in 80% of cases, the aggressor is known to the victim, thereby raising questions about social and family structures. This study outlines the impact of the unit's research in raising public and institutional awareness of the issue, through two discrete but complementary initiatives each characterised by a collaborative and transnational approach. The impacts were underpinned by research covering respectively the literary and the socio-political contexts of gender violence.
This research informed the introduction and on-going implementation of a major criminal policy innovation, namely, Pre-Trial Witness Interviewing (PTWI) by Crown Prosecutors across England and Wales. It was conducted in partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and provided independent evaluation of PTWI as an integral component of the piloting phase prior to national roll-out. The research formed part of the initial PTWI training of selected Crown Prosecutors and, following roll-out, continued to serve as a resource for frontline prosecutors, affecting case progression, complainants' experiences and the outcomes of criminal cases (prominently including serious sexual assaults and domestic violence).
The underpinning research led to the production of good practice guidance for psychiatric reports for sentencing to be used by courts and forensic psychiatrists, when commissioning and producing such reports. It is the first and only official guidance on psychiatric reports for sentencing in England and Wales endorsed by HMCS. In 2010 it was implemented by HMCS in magistrates' courts and in the Crown Court in England and Wales. In the same year it received the endorsement of the Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The guidance has improved the language, structure and content of psychiatric reports for sentencing and it has enhanced the training of forensic psychiatrists. It has also influenced the production of psychiatric reports for the admission of mentally disordered offenders to high secure hospitals.