Prosecution of Cases Involving Sexual Crimes without Physical Evidence

Abstract

Sexual crimes are rising at a concerning rate around the globe. The perpetrators are successfully acquitted of the charges, specifically in cases that lack physical evidence. Forensic evidence can associate a perpetrator with criminal activity. Occasionally, the victims of sexual misconduct do not show up right after the incident because of shame, bias, and stereotypes in society. This causes the loss of essential evidence necessary to prove the crime and the guilt of the perpetrator. Such incidents do not have any witnesses either. Therefore, it becomes hard for the jury to give a verdict in favor of the prosecution. This review article explores the factors, evidence, and initiatives that can help prosecute the victims of sexual crimes in the absence of physical evidence. A multifaceted approach comprised of scientific, psychological, and legal innovation can reduce bias, strengthen prosecution, and enhance legal outcomes, leading to improved conviction rates of sexual crimes.

Keywords

Legal system / Physical evidence / Sexual assault / Prosecution / Victim

Author Contributions

H.U.R.: Writing—original draft. A.A.: Writing—review & editing. Z.S.: Literature review, Writing—review & editing, Visualization. H.M.A.M.: Supervision, Critical revision of the manuscript. M.I.: Writing—review & editing, Critical revision of the manuscript. H.F.: Writing—review & editing, Critical revision of the manuscript. R.U.: Literature review, Writing—review & editing. M.S.C.: Supervision, Validation. U.K.: Writing—review & editing. A.B.: Writing—review & editing. M.M.: Writing—review & editing.

Ethics Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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