Judicial response to sexual assault and abuse: Relevance of legal and extra-legal factors in Judgments

Abstract

Criminological literature suggests that the court sentencing process is affected by several factors, either legal (and therefore, predictable) or extra-legal. The present study analyzes  which variables influence judicial decisions in cases of sexual assault and sexual abuse, by studying all the judgments handed down by the Spanish Provincial Courts in the years
2019 and 2020. The main goal of the study is to determine whether legal
or extralegal variables have a greater influence on the decision to convict or
absolve, on the time length of the prison sentence and on the amount of the compensation awarded. The study reveals that prison sentences are mainly influenced by legal variables and civil liability presents greater randomness, despite the fact that court sentencing criteria are usually concordant for both decision-making processes. Results also show the influence of various extralegal variables, which opens new research lines for future investigation.