Dr Olivia Smith: Court Responses to Rape

Talking Research

Dr. Olivia Smith is a Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy at the University of Loughborough. Olivia’s research has been used as an evidence-base on rape justice by the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, and by third sector organisations such as Rape Crisis. In this conversation, we spoke about Olivia's research on the gaps in the criminal justice system in responding to rape victims in England and Wales. We discussed themes such as rape myths, gendered bias in Ancient Greek philosophy based concepts of reason and ration- and how they affect court responses to rape victims, moving towards a survivor-centric criminal justice system and more. Research discussed: Smith, O. (2017). The practicalities of English and Welsh rape trials: Observations and avenues for improvement. Criminology & Criminal Justice. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895817702508 Smith, O. & Skinner, T. (2017). How rape myths are used and challenged at court. Social & Legal Studies. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0964663916680130 Smith, O. & Skinner, T. (2012). Observing Court Responses to Victims of Rape and Sexual Assault. Feminist Criminology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085112437875