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Williams, Helen and Jobe, Alison (2024) Testimonial Injustice: Exploring ‘credibility’ as a barrier to justice for people with learning disabilities/autism who report sexual violence. Disability & Society, 40 (4). pp. 1061-1083. ISSN 0968-7599

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Abstract

Abstract

Rape/sexual assault cases have high levels of attrition, with reports of sexual violence from people with learning disabilities/autism disproportionately represented. This paper presents the results of a small qualitative study in the UK which focuses on how the criminal justice system is experienced by people with learning disabilities/autism who report sexual offences. An adversarial criminal justice system is reliant on normative social constructions of credibility and the embodiment of (ideal) victimhood through testimony. Adopting Fricker’s framework of testimonial injustice (2009) we explore how epistemic assumptions around credibility create a barrier to justice and facilitate case attrition for victim/survivors with learning disabilities/autism. The paper highlights how criminal justice interpretations of behaviour, communication and third-party disclosure limit access to justice for individuals with learning disabilities/autism, rendering the criminal justice process inherently discriminatory to those with atypical frames of reference.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: “This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Disability & Society on [date of publication], available at: https://doi.org/[Article DOI].” (currently in press)
Depositing User: Helen Williams
URI: https://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/17381

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Additional Information
“This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Disability & Society on [date of publication], available at: https://doi.org/[Article DOI].” (currently in press)
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Item ID
17381
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ISSN
0968-7599

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ORCID for Helen Williams

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Date Deposited
01 Mar 2024 11:05
Last Modified
06 Sep 2025 02:38

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