Constructing rape

Judicial narratives on trial

Bibliographic Data

ID12351663
AuthorsCatherine Burns (0000-0002-7533-238X, Griffith University, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume24
Issue1
Pages81-96
Publication date2004-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJapanese Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1037-1397 • E-ISSN: 1469-9338
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10371390410001684723
OpenAlexW2030309182
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited22

This paper aims to clarify conflicting accounts of the fundamental elements of rape law and its interpretation in Japan. The central question is how judges in Japan understand rape and sexual violation more generally. The paper is part of a larger project that explores the process of judicial decision making in Japan and, in particular, the social context shaping those decisions. I use a qualitative analysis of 41 cases involving sexual assaults to examine the ways in which judges construct gender, sexuality and sex. My analysis draws on the legal storytelling approach to highlight a pattern in judicial decision making that results in the exclusion or disqualification of narratives of rape, and thus women's and men's experiences, that do not conform to pervasive rape stereotypes

Construct (python library · Context (archaeology · Criminology · Human sexuality · Interpretation (philosophy · Judicial interpretation · Judicial opinion · Narrative · Political science · Sociology · Storytelling · Gender Studies · History · Jury Decision Making Processes · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Psychology · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies · Social Psychology