Intersectionality and Credibility in Child Sexual Assault Trials

Abstract

Children remain largely absent from sociolegal scholarship on sexual violence. Taking an intersectional approach to the analysis of attorneys' strategies during child sexual assault trials, this article argues that legal narratives draw on existing gender, racial, and age stereotypes to present legally compelling evidence of credibility. This work builds on Crenshaw's (1991) focus on women of color, emphasizing the role of structures of power and inequality in constituting the conditions of children's experiences of adjudication. Using ethnographic observations of courtroom jury trials, transcripts, and court records, three narrative themes of child credibility emerged: "invisible wounds," "rebellious adolescents," and "dysfunctional families." Findings show how attorneys use these themes to emphasize the child's unmarked body, imperceptible emotional responses, rebellious character, and harmful familial environments. The current study fills a gap in sexual assault research by moving beyond trial outcomes to address cultural narratives within the court that are inextricably embedded in intersectional dimensions of power and the reproduction of social status.

Cumulative consequences of stigma: Possessing multiple concealable stigmatized identities is associated with worse quality of life

“…Although it began as a legal argument, the concept of intersectionality—that one must consider the whole of a person's identities to best understand their experiences—has expanded into numerous academic and applied disciplines, including psychology (Else‐Quest & Hyde, ; Rosenthal, ; Williams & Fredrick, ), public health (Bowleg, ; Goodin et al, ), and even the common vernacular, as it was added to Webster's Dictionary in 2017 (Merriam‐Webster, ). Accordingly, researchers have recently used an intersectional approach to study discrimination (e.g., Lewis & Van Dyke, ; Liu & Wong, ; Sugarman et al, ), sexual and domestic violence (e.g., Armstrong, Gleckman‐Krut, & Johnson, ; Conwill, ; Powell, Hlavka, & Mulla, ), as well as physical and mental health (e.g., Dlugonski, Martin, Mailey, & Pineda, ; Goodin et al, ; Lewis & Van Dyke, ; Velez, Moradi, & DeBlaere, ), among others.…”

Regulating Bodies: Children and Sexual Violence

“…For Black and Brown children, it also reduces them to the unknowable and unbelievable (A. J. Powell et al, 2017). It limits the interpretation and understanding of what children do and say, and "just as it mutes children, the dominant framework grants adults the position of legitimate authorities over them, capable of knowing better than them and speaking more fully on their behalf than they are able to" (Lee, 2001, p. 44).…”

“…Given these intertwined logics, how can the child be simultaneously innocent but also guilty, victimized but criminalized (A. J. Powell et al, 2017)? It is as essential to deconstruct the use of the innocent, symbolic child as it is to recognize that the very "operationalization of ethnicity and culture in terms of 'minority' groups and children serve(s) to reify the majority culture and naturalizes 'whiteness' as the norm" (O'Dell, 2003, p. 143).…”

“…Rather than review the research on children and sexual violence, I argue that it is both possible and critical to open spaces for young people to speak about their experiences of sexual violence, thereby shifting from research on children and that speaks for children, toward research with children. I also join the growing chorus of sociologists and anthropologists who have recently drawn attention to the disciplinary silences on sexual violence (Armstrong, Gleckman-Krut, & Johnson, 2018;Baxi, 2014) and specifically to the omission of children and youth (e.g., Hlavka, 2010Hlavka, , 2014Hlavka, , 2017Korbin, 2003;A. J. Powell, Hlavka, & Mulla, 2017;Shanahan, 2007;Whittier, 2016).…”

“…The sexually assaulted child is treated as an ambiguity within social science literatures, including that of feminist research on interpersonal violence. This becomes abundantly clear when a deliberate intersectional approach is taken to address how sexual violence operates within gendered, raced, and classed systems of domination (Armstrong et al, 2018; Crenshaw, 1991; Meiners, 2015; A. J. Powell et al, 2017), and perhaps especially when children’s and youth’s voices are brought to the fore.…”