Despite attempts to rectify the injustices experienced by victims of sexual violence within the criminal justice system, unfounded rates for sexual violence remain high and many victims continue to feel disempowered and voiceless. In this context, police officers wrestle with how to support victims, while protecting those who may be falsely accused and grappling with deeply imbedded cultural beliefs about who constitutes a “true” victim. In the current article, we draw on interviews with officers working in Internet Child Exploitation, sex crimes, and child abuse units across 10 Canadian police service organizations to understand how police interpret and respond to child, youth, and adult victims of sex crimes. We unpack the range of interpretations of victims, explore if and how interpretations of victims translate into police perceptions of their interactions with victims, and their interpretations of the possible outcomes that can be offered in the investigation. We highlight the difficulties officers encounter as they strive to balance their occupational role with victims’ needs. We argue that police interpretations of sexual violence and sexual violence victims are shaped by the officer’s adherence to or rejection of understandings of the “ideal victim”.

尽管试图纠正刑事司法系统中性暴力受害者的不公正待遇，但毫无根据的性暴力率仍然很高，许多受害者仍然感到无能为力和无声无息。在这种情况下，警官在努力保护受害者的同时，保护那些可能被错误指控的人，并与根深蒂固的关于谁是“真正”受害者的文化信仰作斗争。在当前的文章中，我们将采访加拿大10个警察服务组织的互联网儿童剥削，性犯罪和虐待儿童部门的工作人员，以了解警察如何解释和应对性犯罪的儿童，青少年和成人。我们解开了受害者的各种解释，探索对受害者的理解是否以及如何将其转化为警察对他们与受害者的互动的理解，以及对可能在调查中提供的结果的解释。我们着重强调警官在努力平衡其职业角色与受害者需求之间遇到的困难。我们认为，警察对性暴力和性暴力受害者的解释是由警察坚持或拒绝对“理想受害者”的理解所形成的。