ABSTRACT
Instances of sexual misconduct do not occur in a vacuum. Often, there are many contextual factors present during the time of sexual misconduct that can influence an individual’s encoding and later retrieval of the event. Further, there are factors that may occur later, when the victim is disclosing sexual misconduct, that can impact the victims’ memory and others’ perceptions of that memory. This chapter highlights the various factors that should be considered when understanding memories and reports of sexual misconduct. The factors include scaling of sexual misconduct, the question of delayed reporting of the misconduct, the presence of alcohol and drugs in the social settings where the misconduct had occurred, and a better understanding of the type of details that are remembered with greatest accuracy over time and whether inaccurate or missing details matter.
