This study examines rape myth use in eight English rape trials and assesses attempts by trial participants to combat it. Trial notes, based on observations, were analyzed using thematic analysis. Rape myths were used in three identifiable ways: to distance the case from the "real rape" stereotype, to discredit the complainant, and to emphasize the aspects of the case that were consistent with rape myths. Prosecution challenges to the myths were few, and judges rarely countered the rape myths. This study provides new insights by demonstrating the ways that rape myths are utilized to manipulate jurors' interpretations of the evidence.

This book chapter is in the Washington & Lee Legal Studies Paper Series, and it shall be included in the Research Handbook on Child Soldiers (Mark A. Drumbl & Jastine C. Barrett eds., Edward Elgar Publishing 2019). This chapter is posted for a limited time until publication of the book (anticipated for August 2019). Readers are encouraged to purchase the book when it is published.

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