Supervisors info:
Αθανάσιος Δουζένης, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ, Επιβλέπων
Φώτιος Χατζηνικολάου, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, Α.Π.Θ.
Μαρί- Λουίζ Ψαρρά, Κλινική Ψυχολόγος- Διδάκτωρ Εγκληματολογίας
Summary:
Introduction: Sexual crimes and especially rape have always been intertwined with the prevailing Morals and Ethics. Rape was primarily a moral offence, while social stigmatization did not separate perpetrator and victim but placed them in the same context of moral misconduct. The demand for the victim's obligation to resist was an expression of this perception. Thus, only vigorous resistance could exonerate the victim, who was often treated as an accomplice. The perpetuation of this mentality, which reaches even today, is the most important factor for the large number of dark cases observed for these specific crimes.
Purpose: In the present study, an attempt was made to investigate whether and to what extent, Morals actually influence the criminal treatment of rape at both legislative and jurisprudential levels. To what extent do the socio-ethical perceptions held by each individual influence the criminal procedure as well as the judicial judgment and how the prejudices about the victim's behavior affect its criminal treatment. Furthermore, the present paper aspires to contribute to the relevant debate about rape stereotypes that are reproduced over time and whether they are indeed confirmed in the sample under consideration. In addition, an attempt is made to outline a profile of the person who combines violence with sexuality as a perpetrator, as well as to investigate the characteristics of the victim of the of the relevant crime.
Methodology: The present work is structured in two broad chapters, in the theoretical part which studies the evolution of the legislative framework of the crime of rape from the beginnings of the Penal Code where the relevant crimes were included in the Chapter on "offense of Μorals" until today, that sexual crimes are considered crimes against the sexual freedom and self-determination of the individual. Ρarticular emphasis was placed on the issues arising from the relatively recently added concept of consent to rape law.
In the second - investigative part, court decisions from 23 cases were collected, from the competent courts of Rhodes and Kos, which have jurisdiction over all the Dodecanese and concern the crime of rape for the time period from 1990 until the year 2022. During the collection of the sample, geographic limitations (Dodecanese) and time limitations (period 1990-2022) arose on the one hand
For the needs of this research, the sample was studied in terms of the circumstances surrounding each incident, i.e. the circumstances of place, time, manner of carrying out the act, as well as in terms of demographic characteristics, nationality, age, profession, educational level, social - cultural background of perpetrator and victim but also in terms of any relationship between them or the motive of the perpetrator (discharge of sexual drive or domination over the will of the victim). In addition, it was examined if there were any risk factors such as alcohol, psychopathological behavior, experiences of abuse during childhood, or if there was any trigger that triggered the incident.
Furthermore, any references to moral terms or moral judgments about the accused or the victim were searched for in the Court’s decision, in order to draw conclusions regarding the influence of the prevailing moral concepts in the conviction of the rape and in the assessment of the perpetrator's guilt, as well as what is the treatment of the victim and the accused by the criminal court.
Results: Οut of 23 cases, the court made a decision in 21 cases, of which 16 were convictions and in 4 cases the defendant was found not guilty. In one case the prosecution of the accused was stopped, due to the wishes of the victim. In the remaining two cases have not yet gone to trial.
The majority of cases studied (73.9%) took place during the summer months and especially during the evening hours (65.2%). The victims were always women, mostly foreigners (56.5%). In 41.2% of the victims were young, between 15-20 with a prevailing rate of 17 years. In the majority of cases (73.9%) there was no previous relationship between the victim and the perpetrator, instead their paths crossed on the same night that the crime was committed. In 39.1%, the crime took place outside, usually in some deserted location on the island, where the perpetrator lured the victim away.
Conclusions: The findings found are easily explained by the fact that the Dodecanese has a lot of tourist traffic during the summer months. In most of the cases under consideration, the perpetrators seem to act opportunistically and not according to an organized plan, counting on their numerical superiority and their superior physical strength to subdue the victim. In the cases where there was strong resistance on the part of the victim, the perpetrator seems to loses control to the point of killing the victim (two cases). In the majority of cases, the perpetrators moved in areas frequented by female tourists, especially during the evening hours and acted by taking advantage of the opportunity presented to them, the need or the gullibility of the victim.
Furthermore, although the legislative development has now freed the related crimes from the suffocating embrace of Morals and Ethics, we nevertheless observe that socio-ethical concepts permeate the criminal procedure and the judgment of the jury. Such judgments may concern the victim's previous acquaintance or the victim's provocative appearance, or its provocative behavior before the attack. Especially, the victim’s acceptance of the offender's proposal to visit his apartment or transport her in the offender's car. Οther factors that influence the judgment of the court are social status of the victim, the socially compatible past of the perpetrator, etc. Sometimes, but fortunately less often, such moral judgments are even formulated the court decision.
