The Phenomenon of Secondary Victimization of Rape Crimes Victims – Selected Issues

Abstract

The article is devoted to discussing the phenomenon of secondary victimization of rape crimes victims in terms of psychological, forensic criminology and – above all – law-court execution. The author points to the causes and conditions of occurrence of secondary victimization, shows hazards of this phenomenon, which can also be an outcome of application of the substantive criminal law and process in Poland. The paper also presents the recent amendments to the national legislation pertaining to this subject and identifies the most important international regulations in terms of protection against secondary victimization. The author stresses the need of making further efforts to eliminate the phenomenon of secondary victimization of rape victims, particularly as a result of the operation of the criminal proceedings.