Georgetown University LogoGeorgetown University Library LogoDigitalGeorgetown Home
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   DigitalGeorgetown Home
    • Georgetown University Institutional Repository
    • Georgetown College
    • Department of Government
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
    • Department of Government
    • View Item
    •   DigitalGeorgetown Home
    • Georgetown University Institutional Repository
    • Georgetown College
    • Department of Government
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
    • Department of Government
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Sexual Assault Jurisprudence: Rape Myth Usage in State Appellate Courts

    Cover for Sexual Assault Jurisprudence: Rape Myth Usage in State Appellate Courts
    View/Open
    View/Open: Boux_georgetown_0076D_13350.pdf (11.MB) Bookview

    Creator
    Boux, Holly Jeanine
    Advisor
    Reed, Douglas S
    Abstract
    While decades have passed since 1994’s Violence Against Women Act, do we see American judges employing inaccurate, though widely held, myths about rape? Sexual assault has become an increasingly contested social, political, and public law issue, yet both inside and outside academia this question remains unsettled. This dissertation resolves this issue by undertaking a critical analysis of over a thousand judicial opinions discussing sexual violence in the American states. The project’s foundational questions of whether rape myths are used by the judiciary anymore, and if so, when, are answered with the responses: frequently, but variably, depending on the myth in question. Following this finding, the demographic, institutional, and political correlates of this discourse are explored. The results of these analyses highlight that while women, as a monolithic group, do not seem to be judging in a “different voice,” Democratic women are. Further, both men and women who choose to focus on gendered issues in their legal careers also have different rape myth usage patterns compared to those who do not. Finally, this gendered effect is also connected to the presence of a critical mass of women on the bench – where a critical mass of women can be found, rape myth usage among men and women on the bench is lowered, and challenges to rape myths increase. The results of these examinations inform how rape myth use by judges can be reduced and the findings of this study add critically to sociolegal scholarship’s goal of learning more about the nexus of law and society.
    Description
    Ph.D.
    Permanent Link
    http://hdl.handle.net/10822/1040722
    Date Published
    2016
    Subject
    Gender; Jurisprudence; Rape; Sexual violence; Sociolegal studies; State courts; Political Science; Women's studies; Political science; Women's studies;
    Type
    thesis
    Publisher
    Georgetown University
    Extent
    237 leaves
    Collections
    • Department of Government
    Metadata
    Show full item record

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Thumbnail

      Three State Appellate Courts Would Deny Claims for Wrongful Life' but Would Award Some Kind of Damages to Parents for Wrongful Birth' of Disabled Child 

      Unknown author (1979-09)
    Related Items in Google Scholar

    Georgetown University Seal
    ©2009 - 2023 Georgetown University Library
    37th & O Streets NW
    Washington DC 20057-1174
    202.687.7385
    digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu
    Accessibility
     

     

    Browse

    All of DigitalGeorgetownCommunities & CollectionsCreatorsTitlesBy Creation DateThis CollectionCreatorsTitlesBy Creation Date

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Georgetown University Seal
    ©2009 - 2023 Georgetown University Library
    37th & O Streets NW
    Washington DC 20057-1174
    202.687.7385
    digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu
    Accessibility