by Brigid Bishop

Created on: November 04, 2008   Last Updated: February 14, 2010

If you are a woman and you have been raped by either a male or female, the interviewer will understand you more readily if they are a female as well. By the same token, if you are a man and you have been raped by either a man or a woman (yes, it does happen), you will be able to more readily communicate what occurred to a fellow male.

Whether the interviewer's sexual orientation is gay, straight or bisexual, only a member of the same sex will understand how invasive the assault was as they have the same biological equipment as you do.

A female describing a rape by a man to a man may well cause a male interviewer to become aroused, whether he wishes to or not, and may have him lose focus on the horror of the crime. A female describing the same event to a fellow woman will be more likely to be understood, even if that female is gay, she understands the sheer horror of being assaulted in such a personal, private and primal way.

At the same time, if a man is raped and must describe the incident to a female interviewer, his "male ego" may well get in the way and cause him to leave out pertinent details of the assault. A male may also have a difficult time describing the crime to a fellow male; however, only another male can understand the horror of such an assault.

If opposite sex interviews are held, there are details that the victim may avoid sharing due to the embarrassment, shock and horror they are feeling after such a violation. With a same-sex interviewer the victim can at least feel that the interviewer can "relate" and therefore be more open to describing the crime and improving the chance of successful prosecution of the attacker.

Unfortunately, false accusations of rape sometimes occur and a same sex interviewer can more easily "push" the victim to tell the truth without being construed as biased or "bullying".

If a woman has just been raped and brutalized by a man she is highly unlikely to feel open and communicative to a male interviewer and may well be in shock and feel afraid of the man interviewing her. She may be hesitant to share what has just happened to her and embarrassed to describe, in detail, the physical act itself, which is necessary in order to prosecute. A male is just as likely to feel uncomfortable reporting a sexual assault to a female.

With same sex interviews for rape victims there is much more likelihood that a concise and accurate report can be made and therefore a much better chance that a successful prosecution can take place.

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