Rape Victims' Perceptions of Quality of Encounters with the Swedish Police

This study focused on raped women?s perceptions of their encounters with Swedish police, with a specific focus on quality of encounters, trust, questions asked during police interviews, and perceptions of justice. 106 rape victims, 71 of whom had reported to the police, answered a web-based questionnaire. Results show that where officers explained their line of questioning the perceived intrusiveness of the questioning was lower, as was the level of perceived victim-blaming. Higher quality police encounters were associated with higher trust in the legal system and in police work, and with higher levels of received justice. Findings highlight the importance of trauma-informed policing as a response to sexual assault and provides insights which might help inform policy and practice developments, both in Sweden and more generally.