Developmental Considerations in How Defense Attorneys Employ Child Sexual Abuse and Rape Myths When Questioning Alleged Victims of Child Sexual Abuse

Abstract

Myths and misconceptions surrounding the nature of sexual assault play a role in shaping the perceptions of victims as credible and perpetrators as culpable. Defense attorneys often capitalize on myths in court as an element of their defense strategies. Researchers have established that myths about both rape generally, and child sexual abuse (CSA) specifically, appear with regularity in criminal trials of children who have made an allegation of CSA. Yet no work has systematically and quantitatively examined the impact of a child’s age on the probability that attorneys will ask a myth-consistent question in criminal trials of CSA. In the current study, we examine 6,384 lines of questioning across 134 criminal trials of CSA to assess whether defense attorneys employ developmentally sensitive strategies when asking children questions that draw upon myths about sexual violence (CSA myths: disclosure myths, extent of harm, a child’s positive relationship with their perpetrator, and the presence of witnesses; Rape myths: force and resistance, motives to lie, victim precipitation, and character issues). We found that attorneys did not vary their use of CSA myths by the age of the child. However, the probability that a child would receive a rape myth-consistent line of questioning, increased with a child’s age. This work suggests that attorneys are, at times, strategic in their use of myths and employ these adult rape myths in ways that are plausible, purposeful, and likely impactful. The strategic use of these questions may acknowledge young children’s limited development but may place too great a demand on older children’s developmental capacities. Prosecutors should be prepared to counterquestion these myths in redirect examination.

Analisis Yuridis Putusan Pengadilan Negeri Tenggarong Nomor 29/Pid.Sus-Anak/2017/Pn.Trg Tentang Anak Sebagai Pelaku Tindak Pidana Kekerasan Seksual

“…Fakta-fakta yang demikian terjadi di lingkup masyarakat merupakan permasalahan yang erat kaitannya dengan anak (Machado-Rios, 2019). Dalam hubungan sosial, pendidikan, dan pergaulan seorang anak sangat rentan dipengaruhi oleh berbagai faktor yang mendorong terjadinya tindak pidana kekerasan seksual, utamanya anak sebagai pelaku (Denne, 2023;Kulik, 2021;Mulyadi, 2018;Richards, 2022). Salah satunya Kasus tindak pidana kekerasan seksual yang melibatkan anak sebagai pelaku, salah satunya terjadi pada tahun 2017 di Tenggarong.…”