Sexual Violence on Trial

"This collected edition explores the nuances and complexities associated with addressing sexual violence in Northern Ireland – a jurisdiction that has been overlooked by scholars but offers a unique perspective on the challenges inherent in criminal justice responses to rape and sexual assault. Impressive in scope, it brings together perspectives from support services, legal practitioners and academics while at the same time connecting the Northern Irish context to broader global efforts and debates about rape law reform and feminist activism. In an era where rape is irrefutably on the public agenda following the Global #MeToo movement, Rachel Killean, Eithne Dowds and Anne-Marie McAlinden have collated an insightful, compelling and rigorous collection of perspectives whose attention is forward-focused on legal, social and cultural change in ways that place survivors’ voices and experiences at the centre of the discussion. The accessibility and importance of this collection is such that it is a must-read for anyone working in the field of sexual violence, and is deeply relevant to academics and practitioners around the world not just those situated in Northern Ireland."

Rachel Loney-Howes is a Criminologist in the School of Health and Society at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Her research explores the nexus between activism, support services and criminal justice responses to sexual violence. She is the author of "Online Anti-Rape Activism: Exploring the Politics of the Personal in the Age of Digital Media" (2020) and co-editor of "#MeToo and the Politics of Social Change" (2019).

"In Sexual Violence on Trial, Rachel Killean, Eithne Dowds and Anne-Marie McAlinden have successfully produced a thoroughly rich and rewarding resource for students, academics, and policy-makers alike. Through dialogue across academic and practitioner perspectives, the chapters within this collection carefully expose and examine the myriad challenges that too many complainants of sexual violence continue to face in securing justice: from initial reporting, to police and forensic investigation, prosecutorial decision-making, and the criminal trial itself. The book is grounded by the unique context of reformist ambitions in Northern Ireland, ignited by the recent Gillen Review, but contributions are consistently and impressively informed by a wealth of international and comparative insights which ensure that they also transcend those jurisdictional bounds. Chapters reflects powerfully on – amongst other things - feminist activist strategies for rape reform, the tenacity of myths and cultural scaffolding of sexual violence, and potential for alternative or additional forms of redress, outside the criminal justice process. In my view, this excellent book – both as individual chapters and as a collectivity – deserves to be read and engaged with widely, by scholars, students, practitioners and activists internationally."

Vanessa Munro is Professor at the School of Law, University of Warwick. With funding from the ESRC, Nuffield Foundation, and British Academy, she has conducted extensive research into law and policy responses to sexual violence. In 2010, she was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in recognition of outstanding research achievement, and in 2016 she was nominated and accepted as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. She is currently co-ordinating the Scottish Feminist Judgments Project with Professor Sharon Cowan and Dr Chloë Kennedy (Edinburgh), and working with Professors James Chalmers and Fiona Leverick (Glasgow), and colleagues from IPSOS Mori, on a Scottish Government funded project on jury decision-making. She has also recently completed an ESRC funded project with REFUGE on Domestic Abuse and Suicidality.

"Grounded in the work of those directly involved in responding to sexual violence in support services, investigation and legal process and informed by in-depth academic research this unique text situates sexual violence in Northern Ireland within an international context. Reflecting socio-political campaigns and foregrounding survivors’ experiences, it challenges the adequacy of recent law reform, given the exploitative social, political and cultural realities of gendered, sexualised relations – realities reproduced in popular discourse and persistent myths that diminish the pain of sexual violence, violation and rape. Drawing on international initiatives, it explores the potential of anti-carceral alternatives to regulation and punishment informed by current debates in feminist analyses."

Phil Scraton is Professor Emeritus, School of Law at Queen's University Belfast, and Director of the Childhood, Transition and Social Justice Initiative. He is a multi-award-winning critical social researcher, known particularly for his investigative work into the context, circumstances and aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster. He has also researched deaths in custody, the marginalisation and criminalisation of children and young people, the politics of imprisonment, and the analysis of disasters and their impact on the bereaved and survivors

"This collected edition explores the nuances and complexities associated with addressing sexual violence in Northern Ireland – a jurisdiction that has been overlooked by scholars but offers a unique perspective on the challenges inherent in criminal justice responses to rape and sexual assault. Impressive in scope, it brings together perspectives from support services, legal practitioners and academics while at the same time connecting the Northern Irish context to broader global efforts and debates about rape law reform and feminist activism. In an era where rape is irrefutably on the public agenda following the Global #MeToo movement, Rachel Killean, Eithne Dowds and Anne-Marie McAlinden have collated an insightful, compelling and rigorous collection of perspectives whose attention is forward-focused on legal, social and cultural change in ways that place survivors’ voices and experiences at the centre of the discussion. The accessibility and importance of this collection is such that it is a must-read for anyone working in the field of sexual violence, and is deeply relevant to academics and practitioners around the world not just those situated in Northern Ireland."
Rachel Loney-Howes, Criminologist, School of Health and Society, University of Wollongong, Australia
"In Sexual Violence on Trial, Rachel Killean, Eithne Dowds and Anne-Marie McAlinden have successfully produced a thoroughly rich and rewarding resource for students, academics, and policy-makers alike. Through dialogue across academic and practitioner perspectives, the chapters within this collection carefully expose and examine the myriad challenges that too many complainants of sexual violence continue to face in securing justice: from initial reporting, to police and forensic investigation, prosecutorial decision-making, and the criminal trial itself. The book is grounded by the unique context of reformist ambitions in Northern Ireland, ignited by the recent Gillen Review, but contributions are consistently and impressively informed by a wealth of international and comparative insights which ensure that they also transcend those jurisdictional bounds. Chapters reflect powerfully on – amongst other things - feminist activist strategies for rape reform, the tenacity of myths and cultural scaffolding of sexual violence, and potential for alternative or additional forms of redress, outside the criminal justice process. In my view, this excellent book – both as individual chapters and as a collectivity – deserves to be read and engaged with widely, by scholars, students, practitioners and activists internationally."
Vanessa Munro, Professor, School of Law, University of Warwick, UK "Grounded in the work of those directly involved in responding to sexual violence in support services, investigation and legal process and informed by in-depth academic research this unique text situates sexual violence in Northern Ireland within an international context. Reflecting socio-political campaigns and foregrounding survivors’ experiences, it challenges the adequacy of recent law reform, given the exploitative social, political and cultural realities of gendered, sexualised relations – realities reproduced in popular discourse and persistent myths that diminish the pain of sexual violence, violation and rape. Drawing on international initiatives, it explores the potential of anti-carceral alternatives to regulation and punishment informed by current debates in feminist analyses."
Phil Scraton,Professor Emeritus, School of Law, Queen's University Belfast, and Director, Childhood, Transition and Social Justice Initiative, UK