Rape case research flawed, says top garda

RESEARCH which found that most gardaí doubt whether victims of rape have actually been assaulted is fundamentally flawed and extremely damaging, a senior garda said yesterday.

Detective Inspector Michael Kelleher, from Anglesea Street Garda Station in Cork, warned that rape victims who read the reports would be less likely to report the crime than ever.

He questioned the validity of basing facts and figures about the force on just 33 interviews with gardaí when there are more than 12,000 members.

The research, compiled over four years by social psychologist Dr Stephanie O’Keeffe, found gardaí investigating rape are more concerned with establishing whether the victim is telling the truth than gathering evidence to support or disprove the claims.

Dr O’Keeffe also found the victims were less likely to be believed if they were drunk, working class, had had a consensual relationship with their alleged attacker, or if they were not in a high state of distress when reporting the claim.

“I am absolutely gobsmacked at this research. The core of any investigation is that you do not make judgments based on colour, creed, where they come from or how off the wall their claims are. Gardaí have to ask questions; it’s not in a judgmental way,” Det Insp Kelleher said.

“If someone is raped at 3am tomorrow morning they would have no confidence to come to the gardaí after these reports,” he said.

Det Insp Kelleher also said he found it incredible that Dr O’Keeffe interviewed probationary, or trainee, gardaí about rape cases when they are not allowed take statements from rape victims. He said in Cork, gardaí are trained to take statements from rape victims and these highly-trained staff were available on all shifts. He said interviews were conducted in a victim-friendly suite and everyone was treated with respect.

Dr O’Keeffe vehemently defended her research. She said it had been subjected to the highest academic scrutiny and only by disseminating her findings could gardaí make the necessary changes to investigative protocols. She said that, in reality, probationary gardaí do take rape statements and she spoke to them because they were undergoing investigative training.

“The findings were very clear and I was shocked that young, probationary gardaí were saying these things. When I spoke to the sex assault unit in Dublin, they said they were not surprised by these findings,” she said.

While Dr O’Keeffe praised Cork gardaí’s victim protocol and facilities, she said some women had to give their statements in more stark surroundings.