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Feminism, Positivism, and Radical Victimology

 

Furthermore, feminist victimology research challenged the popular concept of 'stranger danger' and revealed that "women are significantly more likely to be victimised by a man they know than by a stranger." (Wilson, 2009, pp.97) .
             These findings illustrate that feminist victimology has offered a substantial amount of knowledge to the discipline regarding rape and domestic violence by documenting the extent and impact of such events in women's lives, which otherwise may not have been discovered had it not been for the use of qualitative methodologies. (Walklate, 2008) Feminist victimology has also offered an explanation of the relationship between masculine power and female victimisation by drawing upon research which shows that traditional gender norms reinforce and reward male dominance over women. (Wilson, 2009).
             In addition to this, feminist victimology has proposed that the criminal justice system further victimises women. According to Smart, (1989) in a research analysis of the criminal justice system, both radical and social feminists observed that the law was biased against women and in favour of men. This was particularly noted in cases of rape and sexual assault where women were made to relive their ordeals in court and in great detail, which further upheld the concept of patriarchy and phallocentricism. Moreover, it became evident that women were fundamentally presumed guilty until proven innocent.
             It was feminist research and findings such as this that significantly influenced various reforms and political shifts within the criminal justice system. For example, the 'Stern Review', published in 2010, highlighted the "abysmal" treatment that rape victims were subjected to as they went through the criminal justice process. (BBC, 2010) Subsequently, it outlined key recommendations of new practices and policies to be implemented within the criminal justice system, which now allow rape victims to be treated much more respectfully than in the past.


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