Eliya HabbaST, Renana Keydar PI (LAW) , Dan Bareket, Gabriel Stanovsky PI (CS)
Computational analysis of verdicts in sex crimes
Description
The background for the study
1. A feeling on the ground that the way society has gone in recent decades in relation to sexual abuse (psychological, sociological understandings and feminist positions) is not sufficiently reflected in the rulings of the courts.
2. The significant consequences that the course of the trial and especially the verdict and sentence have on the well-being and the recovery journey of victims (the language gap - the language of the injury versus the language of the law).
Rape myths and judicial attitudes
Rape Myth: False beliefs about sexual violence and rape that are designed to deny, downplay or justify sexual violence.
Rape myths are closely related to widespread beliefs about sex and gender and fulfill a cultural function in society.
Studies indicate the consistent and persistent presence of "rape myths" in the legal system that influence the way in which certain sexual assaults are perceived as more "real" than others and determine the severity of the judicial response to sexual offenses.
Rape myths are reflected, among other things, in the assessment of the reliability of the testimony of the victim in the verdict.
The purposes of the research
To examine the judicial positions regarding the assessment of the reliability of the testimonies of victims of sexual assault, as they are reflected in the rulings of the courts.
Our approach is to use a data-driven analysis that allows us to reveal patterns of judicial action, paying attention to the consequences that judicial statements have on victims.
Publications:
- The Perfect Victim: Computational Analysis of Judicial Attitudes towards Victims of Sexual Violence, Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law (ICAIL 2023)