Police perceptions of rape as a function of victim gender and sexuality

This study investigated United Kingdom police workers’ perceptions of adult rape when victim gender and victim sexual orientation were manipulated. Based on the work of Davies, Pollard and Archer (2001), it was predicted that the victim would be judged more negatively when portrayed as a gay man. One hundred and twenty-eight United Kingdom police workers of various ranks read a hypothetical rape scenario in which victim gender and victim sexuality were experimentally manipulated before completing a 12-item rape attributions questionnaire focusing on perceptions of victim blame and assault severity. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) were then performed. Overall, police workers were largely pro-victim although, as expected, they were more negative towards male victims than female victims. Contrary to expectations, these trends existed regardless of victim sexuality. Results are discussed in relation to positive police practice in the treatment of rape