conduct toward sex crime victims

The project
The creation of this seminar was initially requested by the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority. The objective is that members of the police, the courts, and the office of the public prosecution may gain increased knowledge of the sex crime victim’s situation and reactions. It highlights the importance of a sex crime victim receiving the right kind of treatment all the way, from the initial meeting with the police, through the preliminary investigation, to the concluding trial. The seminar also deals with the attitudes and preconceptions that prohibit a competent and compassionate treatment of people subjected to sex crimes.



The story
Miranda Geijers is young, good-looking, and a successful web designer. She has a great deal of self-confidence and always goes for what she wants, both in her career and in love. She works hard, enjoys partying, exudes positive energy, and is very popular, both with women and with men. When we meet Miranda she has just moved to a new city where the job of her dreams awaits her. Everything is perfect! The boss is impressed by her merits, the colleagues love her free spirit, and the clients wrap around her little finger. She’s got everything under control.
What could possibly go wrong…?

The setup
The seminar is divided into three parts. In the first part, the participants will follow Miranda Geijers through one of the most trying parts of her life. The purpose is to strike chords on a deeper level to facilitate empathy and understanding of the emotional reactions and vulnerability a sex crime victim may experience.

After the first part, the participants have a chance to discuss and analyse Miranda’s case. What is their emotional experience? When and how did the conduct towards Miranda fail? What could have been done differently?

In the third part of the seminar, the audience will be introduced to five fictional professionals within the judicial system; a police man, a public prosecutor, a judge, a court secretary, and a private prosecutor. All five of these professionals have already been or will be in contact with Miranda Geijers in an upcoming trial. They have gathered to discuss how to improve the general treatment of sex crime victims within the judicial system. It is an honourable purpose, but their personal values, opinions and attitudes, as well as their individual ideas of their professional role, prevent the discussion from reaching a deeper, less prestige-minded, more empathetic level.

The method
At this stage, the participants are invited to help these five professionals break new grounds in their communication. Through a dialogue with the characters, they have the opportunity to influence their way of thinking, and at the same time express their own personal reflections. All with the aim of finding a common approach towards sex crime victims that is based on compassion and professionalism.


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