‘It sounds like lived experience’ - On empathy in rape trials

Bladini, Moa; Uhnoo, Sara; Wettergren, Åsa

doi:10.1016/j.ijlcj.2023.100575

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 18 publications

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“…Everyday knowledge might, for example, tell judges that it takes time to fall into a deep sleep, or that people sleep lightly in unfamiliar places. In Sweden, Bladini and others (2023: 2) found that judges frequently used the phrase ‘It sounds like lived experience’ to underline the credibility of a complainant's testimony in a rape case. This implies that the judges have understood the complainant's perspective; it is somehow relatable based on the judges’ prior experience or knowledge.…”

Section: Reasoning About Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Reasoning from background knowledge: Evaluating and explaining behaviour in Finnish rape judgments

Piha

2023

The International Journal of Evidence & Proof

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According to explanationist theories of evidence, fact-finders reason by evaluating the ‘goodness’ of different narratives that explain the evidence. One standard is external coherence: does the narrative fit with what the fact-finder knows or assumes about the world? This study uses qualitative content analysis to examine how District Court judges draw inferences directly from ‘background knowledge’ in 119 Finnish rape cases and how these inferences are contested by dissenting and appellate judges. The results show that especially the complainant's behaviour was frequently evaluated against behavioural scripts and other background beliefs. Outspoken reliance on rape myths was relatively rare, and myths were explicitly resisted as often as they were relied upon. Where judges used stereotypical behaviour to support the rape complainant's testimony, this reasoning could be explained by the search for optimum (explanatory) coherence or the Finnish legal principle that a rape complainant's testimony requires supporting evidence. Judges also used estimates of prior probabilities to inform their reasoning; few behaviours are impossible, but some actions are ‘more coherent’ with rape than with non-rape, or vice versa. Accruing the type of knowledge necessary (and usually unavailable) for probabilistic reasoning is therefore necessary also for explanationist reasoning.

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Section: Reasoning About Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Reasoning from background knowledge: Evaluating and explaining behaviour in Finnish rape judgments

Piha

2023

The International Journal of Evidence & Proof

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Including or excluding consent to the French offence of rape: an analysis of the criminal literature

Lannier

2024

Int J Semiot Law

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The Norwegian Victim Lawyer in a Nordic Context: Professional Boundaries, Legal Hierarchies and Purification Processes

Antonsdóttir,

Laugerud

2024

Int Criminol

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The victim lawyer has become a common feature in Nordic jurisdictions. Designed to enable victims to participate effectively in the criminal justice system, victim lawyers emerged largely due to the advocacy of the women’s movements and their concern for survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence. In this paper, we conduct a thematic analysis of interviews and courtroom observations, focusing on how the role and professional status of the Norwegian victim lawyer are perceived. Against the backdrop of the other Nordic jurisdictions, we draw on Bourdieu’s idea of the legal field as a site of struggle to identify perceived legal hierarchies from the perspective of victim lawyers. The findings indicate that the introduction of the victim lawyer in Norway has created tensions and contestations that revolve around both professional and political concerns. These include concerns about the relationship between legal and non-legal work, boundaries of the victim lawyer role and tensions between professional and political loyalties.

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‘It sounds like lived experience’ - On empathy in rape trials

Cited by 4 publications

References 18 publications

Reasoning from background knowledge: Evaluating and explaining behaviour in Finnish rape judgments

Reasoning from background knowledge: Evaluating and explaining behaviour in Finnish rape judgments

Including or excluding consent to the French offence of rape: an analysis of the criminal literature

The Norwegian Victim Lawyer in a Nordic Context: Professional Boundaries, Legal Hierarchies and Purification Processes

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