Short summary

On average about 400 rapes are reported in Denmark annually. Only 15% of those proceed in court and 12% end up with a conviction. The prosecutor's overall assessment of whether a report should continue in court is based on several parameters and some of these may be supported by the clinical forensic examination. The aim of the study is to investigate rape reports in the years 2003-04, 2007-08 and 2014-15 and thereby investigate whether the clinical forensic examination has an impact on the legal assessment in a rape case.

Rationale

The annual number of reported rapes varies from year to year but according to Statistics Denmark an average of 410 rapes was reported each year to the police in 2010-2015. In 297 of the cases, corresponding to 72%, the police charged a suspect. 15% of the reports ended up in court and 12% ended with a conviction for rape.

Lesions, which can be applied with the rape, is identified through the clinical forensic examination, which also must ensure any tracks such as semen, blood, saliva, hair, skin, etc. for police investigation and determine whether there is evidence of the influence of drugs or intoxicants. The purpose of the examination is therefore to give the police a tool for their documentation of an alleged contact between individuals and to confirm either the victim's or perpetrator's explanation. The examination involves an external examination of the body and examination of the genitalia, anus and oral cavity to ensure tracks and documentation of any damage. Clothes from both victim and perpetrator is examined for trace material. Results of the examination are written in a forensic report.

When the police have completed their investigation, and examined the case objectively and from all perspectives, the Prosecution must legally assess whether a report should continue in court. Depending on what the Prosecution decides a case can evolve in five ways:

1. The case ends up in court, and the accused receives a judgment. It occurs in 12% of the notifications.
2. The case ends up in court, and the accused is acquitted. It happens in almost 3% of the notifications.
3. Dropping the charges. No indictment is raised and the case never ends up in court because The Prosecution does not find the evidence sufficient for further prosecution leading to the term is found guilty, and therefore the case is dropped. It occurs in 40% of the cases, and compared to other types of crimes the frequency of dropping the charges is somewhat higher in rape cases.
4. Nolle prosequi (Latin for "be unwilling to pursue"). The case never ends up in court but shall appear on the criminal record under that condition that the accused has confessed. It happens in 0.12% of the cases. Nolle prosequi may be because the offense is of little culpability, extenuating circumstances, that punishment is not found necessary for the public interest, or that the quantitative relation between punishment and costs of the case process is not reasonable.
5. The police never find an alleged offender and the rape report does not proceed in the judicial system.

The Prosecution's overall assessment of a case is based on several parameters such as physical injuries, tracks, the victim's resistance, explanations from the involved parties, time from assault to police notification, witnesses and alcohol-/drug intake. The literature has described some of those:

• The prerequisite that a report may end up in court is that it must be proved the assault was intentionally. Cf. the Penal Code §216 (1) and (2) rape is defined as forced intercourse by violence or under threat of violence, or when intercourse is obtained by other illegal coercion, or in which the victim is unable to resist the act.
• It varies how far rape cases proceed in the judicial system depending on the type; 63% of assault rapes, 54% of partner rapes and 42% of contact rapes with a charge end up in court. It is because in the latter two types there is a certain probability the sexual contact was voluntary or that the offender thought so.
• If the victim has shown active resistance the chance of a lawsuit increases. In 84% of the cases there has been active resistance such as screaming, running or physical resistance.
• If either the victim or the perpetrator (or both) is under the influence of alcohol there is a greater tendency that the case is closed without going to court.

Thus, the proportion of rape reports closed without getting a trial is relatively high. No one is found guilty and the victim does not achieve the sense of justice and does not feel being taken seriously by the judicial system. Besides, those who were termed as alleged offenders will always have the accusation attached, as they never get the chance to defend themselves through court.

In short, we know that factors such as lack of sufficient evidence and the victim's unwillingness to cooperate in the investigation, influence the Prosecution's decision of continuation in court. In literature, it is described that forensic findings have no importance when it comes to the outcome of a judgment, but it is poorly known if the clinical forensic examination has a bearing on whether the notification even get to court.

Even though only 12% of the notifications ends with a conviction, it would be interesting to investigate if any change in the number can be observed with the increased political attention cf. the reform of the police in 2007.

The aim of this study is to investigate significant correlations for the legal assessment focusing on the clinical forensic examination. The null hypothesis is assumed to be: the clinical forensic examination has no influence on the legal assessment of a rape case. The issue will be discussed by following studies:

• The frequency of cases in which the forensic assessment regarding examination of the victim is identified as decisive or instrumental in the legal assessment.
• The frequency of cases in which the forensic assessment regarding examination of the offender is identified as decisive or instrumental in the legal assessment.
• Significant differences in the types of rape cases in which the forensic examination has had an impact on the legal assessment by positive and negative findings, respectively.
• Development over time in the proportion of rape notifications in which the clinical forensic examination has had an impact for the legal assessment with emphasis on the reform of the police in 2007.
• The frequency of rape notifications without a relevant clinical forensic examination of victim and offender, respectively.

Description of the cohort

Inclusion criteria:

• Rape notifications carried out during the years 2003-04, 2007-08 and 2014-2015.

Exclusion criteria:

• Victims with age under 15 years, that means the age of consent at the time of the crime.
• Sexual abuse of a child starting before the age of 15, although the age of 15 at the latest time of crime.
• Male victims.

Data and biological material

Data is obtained from the files of the Prosecution at Funen Police. These documents contain police reports, notes on decision of the Prosecution and judgment transcripts. Therefore, the design of this study is a retrospective cross-sectional study.

There already are raw data from the years 2003-04 and 2007-08. This study uses these data and expands with the years 2014-15, so such data are available for a total of six cohorts comprising about 120-150 cases.

Collaborating researchers and departments

Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Southern Denmark:

• Pregraduate research student Mette Louise Gram Kjærulff

• Professor and Head of Department Peter Mygind Leth
  

• Senior Forensic Pathologist Birgitte Schmidt Astrup, PhD
  

Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Odense University Hospital:

• Medical Specialist Ulla Bonde van Zwol, PhD