Disparity in punitive attitudes towards stranger and partner rape: Analysis of representative survey findings from six European countries

• In Event: Punitive Attitudes Across Type of Crime and State Boundaries

Abstract

The relationship between perpetrator and victim is a critical component in public attitude toward rape. Despite its devastating consequences for the victims, intimate partner rape has long been downplayed or seen as a private matter between spouses. Numerous studies confirm that the public and judiciary tend to treat perpetrators who had a close relationship with the victim more leniently than strangers. The literature considers this tendency as one of the rape myths - stereotypical and harmful beliefs about rape, rapists and the victims. Against this backdrop, we set out to study the social forces behind the discrepancy in how the public assesses either type of rape. Specifically, the paper examines cultural and personal factors as potential correlates of differences in punitiveness toward partner versus stranger rape. The empirical basis of this study is 2021 data collected for the Central European Social Survey, a novel tool designed to continuously trace social changes in samples representative for six countries (n = 11383), namely Germany, Poland, Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. The respondents in each country were invited to choose suitable penalties for, amongst others, stranger and partner rape. The data was analysed using logistic and linear regression models; First, we examine a binary outcome which assumes a positive value whenever a participant recommended a milder penalty for partner rape than for stranger rape. Then, for those who demanded an unsuspended prison term for both offences, we use the percentage difference in its recommended duration (in months) as a continuous outcome in order to boost the robustness of our findings. Crucially, we found men more likely to afford greater leniency to partner rape in all studied jurisdictions. The results also indicate a clear influence of cultural factors on differential punitiveness, although the analysis showed no correlation with religion.

Authors

• Andrzej Porębski, Jagiellonian University

• Ewa Ilczuk, Jagiellonian University

• Andrzej Uhl, Cambridge University