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Criminal justice responses to victim- survivors of sexual violence with learning disabilities: Findings from a local study in North East England.

Jobe, Alison and Williams, Helen (2025) Criminal justice responses to victim- survivors of sexual violence with learning disabilities: Findings from a local study in North East England. Journal of Gender Based Violence. ISSN 2398-6808 (In Press)

Item Type: Article

Abstract

This paper presents findings from research that explored local criminal justice responses to people with learning disabilities reporting sexual violence. The paper presents data collected in interviews with victim-survivors and stakeholders. Findings suggest that the criminal justice system creates key barriers to justice for people with learning disabilities/ autism when reporting sexual violence. Barriers include learning disabilities not being recognised or understood, a lack of effective communication, and a lack of appropriate support, alongside people with learning disabilities/ autism not being viewed as ‘credible witnesses’ by the police or courts. The article concludes that current working practices are inherently discriminatory to those with atypical frames of reference and need adjustment to better support victim-survivors of sexual violence who have additional needs.

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More Information

Depositing User: Helen Williams

Identifiers

Item ID: 18902
ISSN: 2398-6808
URI: http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/18902

Users with ORCIDS

ORCID for Helen Williams: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4980-0853

Catalogue record

Date Deposited: 28 Mar 2025 09:48
Last Modified: 28 Mar 2025 11:55

Contributors

Author: Helen Williams ORCID iD
Author: Alison Jobe

University Divisions

Faculty of Education and Society > School of Social Sciences > Centre for Applied Social Sciences

Subjects

Social Sciences > Criminology
Social Sciences

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