Many crimes of rape committed among acquaintances cannot be identified in judicial practice due to the difficulty of obtaining evidence. In addition to factors such as the absence of witnesses in the enclosed space and the lack of objective evidence, the ambiguity of facts, insufficient evidence, and the loss of evidence caused by the victim's sense of shame and fear are also important factors.

Related Cases

Case 1: The victim A and several friends stayed in a hotel after drinking alcohol. During his deep sleep, he found that the male friend who had sent him to the hotel had sexually assaulted him, so he fought desperately and shouted loudly. The shouting alerted the guest next door and called the front desk. The front desk staff immediately arrived at the door of the room and heard A's shouts, so they knocked and inquired. The two people in the room quickly dressed. After opening the door, the waiter saw A dressed neatly and sitting at the head of the bed. He asked if A needed help, but A said he didn't need it, so the waiter left. A day later, the suspect denied having sexual intercourse and claimed that A was shouting to be a drunken maniac. The hotel room has been cleaned, and evidence cannot be obtained. The testimony of the waiter is not conducive to Party A. The police asked A why she didn't turn to the waiter for help at the time. A stated that she didn't want to be seen in a mess by the waiter, nor did she want to be known. Her sense of shame and pride made her resist anger and grievances, pretend to be calm, and tell the waiter that she was okay.

Case 2: B is 16 years old and works with his parents in the underground canteen of a school. One afternoon, everyone was busy in the operation room. Party B went into the office next to the operation room to pick up things and met a male colleague. The male colleague molested her in the name of falling in love, but B kept evading and refusing, but was held back by the male colleague and unable to leave. After being dragged into the office by a male colleague to commit sexual assault, B quietly refused and tried to resist, but failed. Three days after the incident, she told her mother to report the case accompanied by her mother. The policeman asked B why his parents were outside the office and didn't loudly protest for help. B said that he was afraid of others knowing and humiliated.

Solicitors resolve doubts

Both of the above cases have missed the opportunity to be rescued due to the shame and fear of the victim, which also poses a huge obstacle to the determination of the crime of rape. In fact, both cases cannot be determined due to insufficient evidence.

Women are sensitive, shy, and timid by nature. There are still a few who dare to resist and defend their rights and interests in the face of sexual assault. Most of them are reluctant to give up and compromise. This phenomenon is common, regardless of urban or rural areas. Urban educated women do not appear to be braver and more decisive than rural women. From the perspective of criminal cases, many victims hesitate and struggle to call the police. Newspaper bar, afraid of their reputation damage, being pointed at behind the poke; I'm angry and angry when I don't report it, and I feel unwilling. In the midst of entanglement and hesitation, the best time for obtaining evidence was missed.

The impact of shame and fear on rape conviction is mainly reflected in two aspects: the absence of evidence at the time of the crime, and the loss of evidence after the crime.

1、 "There was no resistance at the time of the crime, and the police could not find evidence against the will of the woman."

Most suspects in rape cases do not deny the occurrence of sexual activity, but the plea is with the consent of the victim. At this time, only the victim's statement is not enough, and the police also need to seek objective evidence against the will of women to exclude the possibility of victims reporting false cases.

Typically, the best evidence is evidence of escape, tearing, or shouting. For example, is there any surveillance video that proves that the victim escaped? Once, a suspect in a case asked the victim to an empty office building after work. The surveillance video shows that the victim ran out of the office and was dragged back by the suspect who was chased out, which is evidence conducive to conviction. For example, when a victim resists, torn clothing, injured body parts, or overturned objects are also good evidence of conviction. Or the distress call made at the time of the crime can directly explain the problem. Without these particularly favorable evidence, the police will visit nearby neighbors to see if they have heard abnormal shouts and cries for help. These are all very favorable evidence for determining rape. With these evidences, it is almost impossible for the suspect to deny.

However, in many cases, victims are afraid or ashamed and do not leave these favorable evidence behind. At the time of sexual assault, he was intimidated by the intimidation and threats of the suspect and dared not resist. When the police collected evidence afterwards, the victim's body and clothing were in good condition, and the scene of the crime was in good order, with no trace of resistance found. The neighbors around didn't hear anything unusual. A common question the police ask is: Since you are unwilling, why not resist? No matter how reasonable the victim's response may be, failure to leave objective evidence of resistance will affect the determination of the crime of rape.

2、 Failure to report the case promptly after the crime, resulting in the destruction of evidence

Many of the victims were surrounded by various emotions such as fear, nervousness, helplessness, and depression after their deaths, and did not know what to do. Can only talk to the closest person, most of them are encouraged and accompanied by relatives and friends to report the case. But this has often been delayed for a day or two, or even longer. The scene of the crime has been cleaned up, the suspect and the victim have taken a bath, and the clothes on both sides have been washed clean. The police have no evidence to retrieve. At this point, the suspect even denied that sexual activity had occurred. What can you do with him? Even the basic facts of sexual behavior cannot be proven, let alone whether it violates the will of women!

There are also some reactions after the victim's death that also raise suspicion. For example, in one case, the victim and the suspect went downstairs together after the incident. The elevator surveillance video showed that the victim was calm, and the suspect did not refuse to help her with his hand. Another victim chatted with the suspect on WeChat after the murder, but did not display any language such as anger or anger. This makes it difficult for the judiciary to believe that it has been violated.

In addition, the late reporting of a case can also be questioned by judicial personnel: Why not report the case in a timely manner after personal safety and freedom? Should we not seek police help as soon as possible after being infringed upon? Recently, I saw a case disclosed in the media, and the victim was raped 33 times before reporting to the police. This inevitably raises questions about why the delay has been so long. Is the victim voluntary or forced? The perfect victim set by judicial personnel should be rushing to the public security bureau immediately after the incident and accusing the suspect in tears, rather than hesitating and worrying. So the police have a reasonable suspicion: After the incident, did not timely report to the police is not violated? Was it influenced by others when reporting the case later? Or are the terms not agreed? However, the police did not take into account the victim's sense of shame and fear, fear of reputational damage, family blame, jokes from others, and fear of reprisals from suspects. All these concerns have led to delays in reporting the case, adding another detail of innocence to the judicial personnel's consideration during the review. In short, late reporting is also a factor that is not conducive to victims.

Therefore, when encountering violations, it is necessary to bravely resist, loudly call for help, and attract nearby personnel to come for assistance. If it is not possible to seek help or resist, it is necessary to find ways to leave traces of resistance for the police to obtain evidence. After the incident, it is also necessary to call the police in a timely manner and require the police to fix the evidence on the scene and body as soon as possible.

epilogue

The last thing to say is that girls should not trust others easily and should not be trapped in danger. Unless you are particularly trustworthy, don't drink or eat alone with friends of the opposite sex. If you eat, don't drink or drink less, and then go home early. Don't go to uncontrollable or even slightly ambiguous places such as hotel rooms or other people's homes with heterosexual friends. In short, the first thing women should do is protect themselves!

(This article is translated by software translator for reference only.)