Module 8
Jury Selection

Sexual Assault Case Jurors

  • Seating an unbiased jury in any type of rape or sexual assault trial has two aspects:
  • questioning potential jurors about their own sexual assault victimization, if any
  • identifying and excusing potential jurors who so adhere to rape myths that they will be unable to listen to the facts and follow the law with an open mind

Sexual Victimization Among Potential Jurors

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in the United States, an estimated 19.3% of women (approximately 23 million women) were raped during their lifetimes. An estimated 1.7% of men (or almost 2.0 million men) were raped during their lifetimes. An estimated 43.9% of women were subjected to sexual violence other than rape during their lifetimes. An estimated 23.4% of men were subjected to sexual violence other than rape during their lifetimes. See CDC, Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization 2011 (2014).

Because so many people, particularly women, have been victims of sexual assault as children, adults or both, it is typical for a significant percentage of the jury pool to be immediately excused from any type of sexual assault case because of their personal experience. For example, in a 1997 national study of attitudes toward public policy issues including wife rape conducted by the Applied Research Center at Georgia State University, 28% of the women in the sample were victims of forced sex. See Basile, Attitudes Toward Wife Rape (2002).

Resources 

Articles

Kathleen C. Basile, Attitudes Toward Wife Rape: Effects of Social Background and Victim Status, 17 Violence and Victims 341 (June 2002)

Nonperiodical Literature

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC, Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization — National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States, 2011 (Surveillance Summaries 2014), Table 1

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