Bodies in Evidence: Race, Gender, and Science in Sexual Assault Adjudication

Bodies in Evidence is a book that examines how the process of sexual assault adjudication reinforces inequality and becomes a public spectacle of violence. It draws on observations of over 680 court appearances in Milwaukee County's felony sexual assault courts and interviews with judges, attorneys, forensic scientists, jurors, sexual assault nurse examiners, and victim advocates to show how forensic science helps to propagate public misunderstandings of sexual violence by bestowing an aura of authority to race and gender stereotypes and inequalities.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 25 October 2021
Publisher: New York University Press

Winner of the 2021-2022 AES Senior Book Prize, awarded by the American Ethnological Society, Honorable Mention of the Association for Feminist Anthropology's Senior Book Prize. This groundbreaking book uncovers how the process of sexual assault adjudication perpetuates inequality and transforms into a public spectacle of violence. For victims of sexual assault cases, trials rarely yield justice. Instead, the courts subject defendants, victims, and their loved ones to a bewildering and protracted public spectacle. Along the way, forensic scientists, sexual assault nurse examiners, and police officers offer their expertise, shaping the narrative that emerges for the judge and jury. These expert accounts intersect with the stories of victims, witnesses, and their communities, perpetuating cultural understandings of sexual violence. However, too often, this process reinscribes racial, gendered, and class inequalities.

Bodies in Evidence draws on extensive observations of over 680 court appearances in Milwaukee County's felony sexual assault courts, as well as in-depth interviews with judges, attorneys, forensic scientists, jurors, sexual assault nurse examiners, and victim advocates. Through this comprehensive research, the book reveals how forensic science contributes to perpetuating public misunderstandings of sexual violence by lending authority to racial and gender stereotypes and inequalities. Expert testimony further reinforces the notion that sexual assault is physically and emotionally recognizable and always leaves behind material evidence. The courts' reliance on forensic evidence imbues these well-known stereotypes and myths about sexual assault with newfound scientific credibility.

Bodies in Evidence is a powerful, unflinching, and at times heartbreaking exploration of the human cost of sexual assault adjudication and the societal toll we all bear. It sheds light on the systemic flaws and biases that hinder the pursuit of justice for survivors and challenges us to confront the deep-rooted cultural norms and attitudes that perpetuate sexual violence. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of sexual assault, justice, and social change.

Weight: 548g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781479809660