This post was originally published as a press release on 17 February 2017.
The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) strongly welcomes the government’s newly announced initiatives to promote a more victim-centric approach in the handling of sexual assault cases by the criminal justice system.
In AWARE’s experience at the Sexual Assault Care Centre (SACC), the sensitive and empathetic response to survivors of sexual assault is critical to both their psychological and emotional recovery, as well as their willingness to engage with the reporting process and thus help the criminal justice system to hold perpetrators accountable.
“A victim-centric process is better for everyone,” said Jolene Tan, Head of Advocacy & Research at AWARE. “It better meets victims’ needs, and it assists investigators by eliciting greater cooperation and confidence from victims, making it easier to find out the facts.”
AWARE hopes that these improvements will help to address under-reporting and attrition of sexual assault and sexual harassment cases in the criminal justice system. “In our experience at SACC, such incidents are substantially under-reported,” said Jolene Tan. “A majority of our clients do not report their experiences to the police.”
The main reason cited by clients for not making police reports is a fear of not being believed or not having enough evidence. Other top reasons were worry about how family and friends would react, and fear of public exposure. The most frequently reported offence was rape (more frequent than either physical or non-physical sexual harassment).
In 2016, 338 people reached out to SACC – 41% of them did so in connection with an incident of rape.
Among young people, a 2014 survey by AWARE found that only 6% of those who had experienced sexual assault or harassment sought help of any kind (including but not limited to police reports).
AWARE has worked closely with the Serious Sexual Crimes Branch (SSCB) of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) over the last three years. We regularly provide SSCB with our clients’ feedback on their experiences with the police investigation process. SSCB has been receptive to this feedback and has been committed to ensure a supportive experience for the cases that we have referred to them.
“The current initiatives will help to ensure that police processes and capabilities are improved on a systemic level, not just on a case by case basis,” said Jolene Tan.
AWARE’s further comments on specific elements of the initiatives are found below.
a) Training video
SACC is delighted to collaborate with the police in developing this new training video to help supplement police officers’ understanding of a victim-centric and trauma-informed perspective, by giving them a better idea of how victims feel, why victims speak or behave as they do, and how police and other first responders can have an impact on them.
Since we have begun offering services to sexual assault victims, we find that their experiences with police have been uneven. We greatly appreciate SPF’s move, in conducting this training, to proactively ensure a more consistent understanding of the victim perspective among officers, as everyone needs to be able to approach the police with confidence.
In society at large, we see many misconceptions about sexual assault and a lack of understanding of the reality of victims’ experiences. For example:
– There is a tendency to criticise victims for irrelevant choices such as their clothing, appearance or actively socialising.
– There is widespread misunderstanding that there is no “perfect” or “normal” way to behave after an assault – some people cry, or make reports immediately, or physically struggle against a perpetrator, but not all behave in these ways.
– People do not realise that trauma can affect how victims give their accounts, leading to what may appear to be gaps in memory.
When we let these and similar misunderstandings about what the victim “should” do affect how we talk to them and what we believe, this can discourage them from engaging further – which may impact the ability of investigators to gather facts – and it can also harm victims psychologically and emotionally.
These gaps in understanding exist across society. Because police occupy a special position, it is particularly important that they are systematically sensitised to ensure that they can fulfil their mission of seeing to justice and the safety of victims.
b) OneSAFE pilot
We welcome this pilot programme and hope to see similar services rolled out with greater availability in the future. Clients of SACC have frequently reported frustration and difficulty due to the number of trips, long waiting times, and multiple statements about the assault, when reporting sexual assault. By combining medical assistance, forensic examination and police reporting, this initiative has the potential to make the reporting process much less onerous and stressful.
c) Punishment
We believe that it is important to hold perpetrators of sexual assault to account, including appropriate punishment in accordance with due process when they are found guilty. In our experience, what our clients primarily need is supportive reporting and investigative measures, and an assurance of accountability. Victims tend to seek greater certainty of enforcement rather than severity of punishment. In fact, overly harsh punishments can actually deter reporting, especially as many perpetrators are known to the victims.
We hope that the government, in conducting its research, will consider the extensive criminological evidence collected by researchers and the lessons of best practices in other jurisdictions, which have seen positive outcomes from restorative justice approaches. Punishments should be proportionate and support both rehabilitation as well as justice.
d)Information Pamphlets for Victims
We welcome this as a good first step to address the reality of under-reporting.
