ABSTRACT
Chapter 2, entitled ‘Tracing the interest in victims, victims’ rights and sexual assault law reform’, addresses issues relating to victims’ limited involvement and role in criminal justice systems, along with others pertaining to the ill-treatment of sexual assault victims in adversarial justice processes. It also provides an overview of the literature and debates that foreground the book’s main objectives. It focuses on three key areas: (i) identifying and situating victims’ rights and interests as synonymous to those of the accused and society; (ii) the competing ‘triangulation of interests’; and (iii) the key challenges sexual assault victims experience in the criminal prosecution process. The discussion focuses on illuminating the rationale for enhancing victims’ rights, and explores the most significant victim-focused reforms that have emerged across adversarial systems, including within Victoria. In doing so, Chapter 2 outlines the key benefits and limitations of victim-focused reforms with regard to the ways they address and represent victims’ rights and interests in the prosecution process. It also highlights the contribution of this study to criminological and socio-legal scholarship.
