Introduction Today, far too many rape victims continue to encounter the old sexist and racist responses to rape from family, friends, acquaintances, and even the police. This is not to say that practices are not changing. Today our society is in the midst of making great changes in its understanding of the injuries and injustices of rape victims. Only a generation ago, as recently as 1970, there were no rape crisis centers and no national studies …showed first 75 words of 1450 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1450 total…criminal justice system, and impacted upon by developments within its sphere. (http://crj.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/4/1/29) This ultimately means that the police will continue to reflect the traditional cultural attitudes and stereotypes unless these policies are identified, challenged, and changed. Centuries of negative attitudes towards women, combined with justice systems designed primarily around men's interests, have inevitably resulted in rape being one of the most concealed, minimised, and misunderstood offences in modern day society.