Reinvestigating the Sexual Violence "Justice Gap" in the Swedish Criminal Justice System: Victim-Centered Alternatives to the Criminal Trial. (January 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Carroll, Caitlin P.
• Is Part Of: Feminist criminology. Volume 18:Number 1(2023)
• Page Start: 45
• Page End: 64
• Publication Date: 2023-01
• Subjects: justice gap -- rape reporting -- legal issues -- financial compensation -- sexual assault -- justice interests -- victim services; Feminist criminology -- Periodicals; Female offenders -- Periodicals; 364.37405
• DOI: 10.1177/15570851221077673
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1557-0851

Abstract

The high rate of attrition in the processing of sexual violence cases within the criminal justice system has been framed as a "justice gap, " an institutional failure to get justice for victim-survivors. In this article, I analyze the processing of rape cases in the Swedish criminal justice system, one with a particularly high attrition rate. Drawing upon interviews with criminal justice professionals, I illuminate the inadequacy of the justice gap as a measure of victim-centered justice. Through policy reforms, the Swedish criminal justice system has instituted victim-centered practices that offer victim-survivors alternative forms of justice without increasing the prosecution rate.