Evidently rape: What happens to evidence of rape as it travels from the scene of the crime to the courtroom?

Producing evidence is considered a key challenge to the prosecution of rape. In the research project «Medical, legal and lay understandings of physical evidence in rape cases (Evidently Rape)» researchers from medicine, sociology of law, criminology and law investigate how evidence in rape is produced, transported and interpreted throughout the criminal justice process. On its journey from rape reception centres and laboratories to the police and courts of justice, evidence is understood differently, and in this project, we seek to understand how institutional logic and professional standards of expertise impact the interpretation and use of evidence in cases of rape.

May-Len Skilbrei is a Professor at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law at the University of Oslo. Her research interests are mobility, gender and sexuality, and she has done empirical studies on subjectivities in, and policy developments on prostitution and human trafficking, sexual violence, marriage, labour, irregular migration and return migration. Skilbrei is an experienced ethnographer, as well as in combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies. She has conducted empirical research in Norway, Sweden, Estonia and Russia.

All are welcome including students!

The Seminar Series

The Sociology and Social Anthropology Seminar Series (Allmänna seminariet) invites international and national researchers to present and discuss on-going research. Each presenter talks for about an hour, followed by about an hour's discussion.

Find more research seminars in this series this spring at soc.lu.se/en/research.