ABSTRACT

Sexual assault and abuse are among the most heinous crimes that can be committed. However, these crimes are largely underreported worldwide. Despite this, research on the investigation of sexual assault and abuse cases has been slow to emerge and there exists an important gap between the current knowledge on sexual victimization and the police response to it. Research is required on many topics related to the investigation of sexual assault and abuse, including research that can improve the effectiveness of investigative interviews and the accurate identification and prioritization of suspects. The goal of the current chapter is to review current research efforts in these two areas—investigative interviewing and suspect identification and prioritization procedures—and to discuss some of the challenges associated with these tasks, and the investigation of sexual assault and abuse more generally.