ABSTRACT
An area where feminism has been particularly influential has been in focusing our attention on the nature of crimes committed against women by men with the two areas most frequently studied being rape and domestic violence. In the former case feminists have campaigned for anonymity and protection for women against having their character tested in court – although in practice it is still possible to agree with Adler (1982) that few women are actually protected – and the setting up of specialist rape suites in police stations where victims can be dealt with in a sympathetic manner. These changes have encouraged some improvement in the reporting of offences to the police although the incidence of rape continues to be greater than officially recorded (Jones, Newburn, and Smith, 1994). In the case of domestic violence the whole issue is now considered far more serious than previously by the criminal justice system. First, there are now special legal provisions established in order to protect women and children from this behaviour, although some critics have argued that this body of legislation has actually made matters worse, for it allows these offences to be dealt with less seriously than would be the case in incidents of street violence. Second, although the greater emphasis than before in dealing with these cases has led to some increased reporting of such offences, it still remains one of the least reported (see Hanmer and Saunders, 1984; Dobash and Dobash, 1992).
