Sexual Offence Complainants and Credibility: Why Virginity Testing is Pointless

JUDGING THE CREDIBILITY OF HISTORIC CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE COMPLAINANTS How Judges Describe Their Decisions

Criminal prosecutions of child sexual abuse alleged to have occurred in the distant past raise myriad challenges. One significant challenge involves assessing the credibility of complainants. In the present study, 51 bench trials involving 87 complainants were coded into categories related to complainants’ memory for the offense, as well as credibility of the complainant, reliability of the evi...

False memory syndrome: undermining the credibility of complainants in sexual offences.

Virginity testing: a systematic review

BACKGROUND So-called virginity testing, also referred to as hymen, two-finger, or per vaginal examination, is the inspection of the female genitalia to assess if the examinee has had or has been habituated to sexual intercourse. This paper is the first systematic review of available evidence on the medical utility of virginity testing by hymen examination and its potential impacts on the examin...

Offence Pathways of Sexual Homicide Perpetrators

Offending pathways of sexual homicide perpetrators were explored with a focus on whether the pathways for those with a previous conviction for rape or attempted rape differed from those who had no such convictions. The criteria for sexual homicide was taken from the UK National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Offender Assessment System (OASys) research database, and included murders where a ...

Virginity Testing and the Politics of Sexual Responsibility: Implications for AIDS Intervention

In early August 2000 a small but vociferous crowd of teenage girls marched through the streets of central Pietermaritzburg, singing, chanting slogans and holding hand-written placards that stated “We are not being forced!” and “Down with the Gender Commission!” The girls were followed by a handful of middle-aged women, dressed in elaborately beaded outŽ ts and conical hats typically worn by “tr...