RT Article
T1 The judicial pursuit of the sexual victimization of children: how the criminal justice system processes cases
JF International review of victimology
VO 23
IS 2
SP 123
OP 144
A1 Tamarit Sumalla, Josep Maria
LA English
YR 2017
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1565648374
AB This article analyses the criminal justice system’s treatment of those sexual offences against children of which it is made aware. The findings reported in this article draw on a quantitative study based on data (n = 97) taken from judicial files from a province of Catalonia, Spain. The study examines prosecution, trial and conviction rates, analysing the possible variables involved to provide a better understanding of the reasons behind the successful prosecution of complaints made. The study points to a low rate of prosecution, similar to other studies carried out in English-speaking countries. This leads us to conclude that differences in legal systems do not give rise to significant differences in dealing with cases. There is no evidence that a legalistic system such as that of Spain acts as a restraining element against the influence of non-legal factors in the judicial decision-making process. However, similarities with other studies are not found with regards to some factors associated with it. The findings provide no confirmation of the hypothesis that the Spanish criminal justice system is particularly reluctant to prosecute cases of intrafamilial victimization.
K1 Victim
K1 Victimization
K1 Child abuse
K1 Prosecution
K1 Criminal justice system
K1 Kindesmissbrauch
K1 Kindliche Opfer
K1 Viktimisierung
K1 Strafjustizsystem
DO 10.1177/0269758016680867