ABSTRACT

In order to study sexual violence internationally, it is helpful to understand similarities and differences in how sexual violence is conceptualised across countries. The current study examined prosecuting attorneys’ judgments about which sexual tactics legally qualify as sexual violence in two countries. Attorneys from the U.S. (n = 28) and Colombia (n = 24) evaluated whether 36 tactics would qualify as a sexual offense in their jurisdiction. Although Colombian and U.S. attorneys agreed on the legality of many tactics, Colombian attorneys judged more behaviours as criminal, on average, than U.S. attorneys. Within-country variations suggested that differences were due not only to different legal statutes, but also to different interpretations of laws. Open-ended responses illustrated sources of ambiguity, including lack of clarity about how much coercion is required and which behaviours indicate nonconsent. This suggests that vagueness within legal definitions may allow attorney judgements to be influenced by stereotypes and prejudices.

PRACTICE IMPACT STATEMENT

This study illustrates the vagueness of legal definitions of sexual violence in two countries—the United States and Colombia. This vagueness provides prosecuting attorneys with substantial power to interpret the law, and in this study, some attorney judgements of legality seemed to be influenced by stereotypes. Greater training for law students and attorneys about the realities of sexual violence may be helpful in undermining belief in rape myths that may inhibit attorneys from prosecuting certain sexual violence cases.

中文翻译：

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判断性暴力策略的合法性：美国和哥伦比亚检察官的比较

摘要

为了在国际上研究性暴力，了解各国对性暴力概念化的异同是有帮助的。目前的研究审查了检察官关于哪些性策略在两个国家合法地被视为性暴力的判断。来自美国 (n = 28) 和哥伦比亚 (n = 24) 的律师评估了 36 种策略在其管辖范围内是否符合性犯罪的条件。尽管哥伦比亚和美国的律师就许多策略的合法性达成一致，但平均而言，哥伦比亚律师将更多的行为判定为犯罪行为，而不是美国律师。国家内部的差异表明，差异不仅源于不同的法律法规，还源于对法律的不同解释。开放式回答说明了模棱两可的来源，包括不清楚需要多少强制以及哪些行为表明不同意。这表明法律定义中的模糊性可能会使律师的判断受到刻板印象和偏见的影响。

实践影响声明

这项研究说明了美国和哥伦比亚这两个国家对性暴力的法律定义的模糊性。这种模糊性为公诉律师提供了很大的法律解释权，在本研究中，一些律师的合法性判断似乎受到了刻板印象的影响。对法学院学生和律师进行更多关于性暴力现实的培训可能有助于消除对强奸神话的信念，这些神话可能会阻止律师起诉某些性暴力案件。