The Study of The Experiences from Victims of Sexual Assault in The Criminal Judiciary Proceedings and The Social Worker’s Functionality: Using Adult Female Victims as Examples
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Wu, Tzu-Ying
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to comprehend the experiences of adult female victims from sexual assault in the criminal judiciary proceedings, and the functionality that a social worker could perform. Hereunder, the methodology of this study is by means of in-depth interview individually with thirteen respondents, inclusive of four adult female victims, three prosecutors, three judges and three social workers in order to obtain more comprehensive information from diversified points of view. The analysis layout of this article is based on the regulations of The Code of Criminal Procedure to divide the judiciary proceedings into two procedures: preliminary proceeding and judiciary proceeding, while the latter will be further divided into three stages: before cross-examination, cross-examination and after cross-examination in order to facilitate the discussion.
Fist of all, during the preliminary proceeding, the judge has to verify whether a defendant pleads guilty or not in the case of sexual assault, and to communicate with the criminal party regarding evidence examinations. In practice, since the victims are not the criminal parties, they are rarely involved in the trial at this early stage. Consequently, social workers are barely involved in providing services to victims neither. Nevertheless, the study shows that social workers should ahead of time assist victims in participating in litigation activities at this stage. It not only allows victims to get familiar with the procedures throughout the trail, but also to understand the existing status of testimonies in order to furnish more advantageous evidences. For social workers, they can voluntarily communicate with justice systems with regard to protection measures of the victims’ interests. Social workers could also remind a prosecutor to request the court to investigate the victims’ physical and mental condition as the supporting evidence in case of exceptional physical and mental damage on them.
Secondly, since the appearance is fearful for a victim, social workers would assist victims in preparation for administrative proceedings and practical criminal suits before the court day. The former includes introduction of the court’s surroundings, arrangements of safety measures for appearance, and emotional support provision; while the latter comprises interpretation of cross-examination procedures, reminding and accompanying the victim for retrospection of the legal case, and assistance in designating a counsel. On the other hand, in order to facilitate a victim to proceed the cross-examination, the authorities of social affairs should develop related tools for illustration. Moreover, social workers should act as a catalyst for communication between a prosecutor and a victim. It not only can assist the prosecutor in understanding the victim’s physical and mental condition, but also allows the victim to obtain adequate information from the court so as to manage the challenges during cross-examination.
Thirdly, the main purpose of a victim’s appearance in the judiciary proceeding is to undertake the testimony inspection during cross-examination. Nevertheless, the findings of the study shows most of the appearance experiences are negative for victims. Therefore, when accompanying a victim to appear in court, social workers could exercise the following four functions during the cross-examination: Assisting in understanding the procedures during the trial, providing emotional support, raising an objection with regard to procedures properly, and declaring opinions. Furthermore, social workers also act as an intermediary between victims and prosecutors to communicate with the opinions from both sides. On the other hand, social workers could also play the role of expert witnesses or assistants. The functionality of the former is to bring up professional advice for supporting evidence; while the latter is to assist a victim in undertaking the litigation smoothly. In the end, social workers have to furnish safety, emotional support, and to assist in judicial and administrative follow-ups.
The findings of the study point out that the difficulties an adult female victim confronts during the judiciary proceedings contain lack of resources for assistance, disadvantaged litigation position, inadequacy of legal knowledge, as well as the unfriendly environment of judicature. Similarly, social workers also face difficulties in assisting the victims during the judiciary proceedings owing to lack of professional competence and self-confidence. Whereas, this article makes suggestions in the light of sexual assault related systems, prevention networks, organizations and individual social workers. The suggestions for systems include amendment to related regulations in The Code of Criminal Procedure, consensus building about the scope of social work service, and establishment of social worker serving offices for criminal suits. As for the suggestions on prevention networks of sexual assault, developing teaching materials for cross-examination, promoting the communication among systems, and establishing the objectives and contract specifications of all sorts of resources should be made. As to organizations, the study suggests implementing social workers’ in-service education, enhancing social workers’ self-confidence, and building up social service with continuity. With regard to individual social workers, to enhance judicial knowledge and resource management capability are suggested.
Subjects
sexual assault
rape
criminal judiciary proceedings
adult female victims
experiences of victims
social worker’s functions
cross-examination
SDGs
Type
thesis
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
ntu-99-R93330011-1.pdf
Size
23.53 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):e82009dbcfba09697d2f543f48e01cfd