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Incompetency and Challenges of Police in Rape Cases


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1 Delhi School of Social Work, Delhi University, Delhi, India
     

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The offences of rape and the sexual violation have notoriously low reporting rate in India. Underreported Crime is due to the reason of disbelief in police and investigation system. As patriarchal legacies among the whole system of Police and their attitude towards women especially in rape cases making it difficult for survivors to approach Police. Survivors are often reluctant to make police reports for various reasons- Undeniably fear of re-victimisation by criminal justice professionals, survivor fear they will be shamed, disbelieved, coerced, re-traumatized, or dismissed. In Research and media reports has shown that our police officers are not even aware of the current Rape law, which shows their incompetency but not a challenge. The police response to the issue of rape is stereotyped and patriarchal as they judge the women through traditional mindset. This paper reveals that Police officers skill in taking rape complaints is important, because it may affect the willingness of survivor to cooperate with criminal justice authorities, the quality of crime reports which result in the degree of secondary trauma experienced by survivors.

Keywords

Rape, Police, Law, Survivor, Culture, Society.
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  • Incompetency and Challenges of Police in Rape Cases

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Authors

Manish Kaithwas
Delhi School of Social Work, Delhi University, Delhi, India
Neena Pandey
Delhi School of Social Work, Delhi University, Delhi, India

Abstract


The offences of rape and the sexual violation have notoriously low reporting rate in India. Underreported Crime is due to the reason of disbelief in police and investigation system. As patriarchal legacies among the whole system of Police and their attitude towards women especially in rape cases making it difficult for survivors to approach Police. Survivors are often reluctant to make police reports for various reasons- Undeniably fear of re-victimisation by criminal justice professionals, survivor fear they will be shamed, disbelieved, coerced, re-traumatized, or dismissed. In Research and media reports has shown that our police officers are not even aware of the current Rape law, which shows their incompetency but not a challenge. The police response to the issue of rape is stereotyped and patriarchal as they judge the women through traditional mindset. This paper reveals that Police officers skill in taking rape complaints is important, because it may affect the willingness of survivor to cooperate with criminal justice authorities, the quality of crime reports which result in the degree of secondary trauma experienced by survivors.

Keywords


Rape, Police, Law, Survivor, Culture, Society.

References