Worlds apart? Women, rape and the police reporting process

During the 1970s and 1980s, in both Britain and New Zealand, mounting criticism was made of the way in which women rape complainants were treated by the police and criminal justice system. In response to these criticisms, legal and procedural changes were introduced in both countries in the mid-1980s, aimed at improving women's experience of the reporting process. As in England, however, little research was conducted following these changes to assess their impact on women's experiences of the police reporting process. In a recent British Journal of Criminology article (1997), Jennifer Temkin presented research findings based on a study of women in Sussex who reported rape in the 1990s. By way of comparison, this article presents the results of similar research conducted within the New Zealand context. Both studies, although conducted 'worlds apart', produced similar results and generated strikingly similar conclusions. This article presents a summary of the findings from the New Zealand research and explores possible explanations for the apparent lack of major improvement in women's experiences of the rape reporting process in both countries. It concludes that while the police and rape victims remain seemingly 'worlds apart' in their perspectives and needs, little in the way of substantive improvements appears possible within this historically and cross-culturally fraught area.