Over years scholars have posited that traditional criminal justice approaches to victims of sexual violence can promote secondary traumatisation and that the police often over focus on victim credibility as opposed to the behaviour of the suspect. These judgements are largely underpinned by assumptions and misconceptions about sexual violence and the victims of such crimes (Johnson et al, 2024). With justification much attention has focused on improving services for victims of rape and serious sexual offending (RASSO) and less consideration has been given to the wellbeing of those who investigate these crimes, the organisational support offered to them and the impact of these factors on the treatment of victims. Therefore, whilst we know compassion fatigue towards victims and investigators’ families is affected by burnout (Davies et al., 2023; Lennie et al., 2020), the specific link between officer welfare and the police treatment of rape victims has been left largely unexplained.
Whilst the primary aim of the Pillar 4 wellbeing survey was to explore the current problems with and drivers of welfare situated within the RASSO investigator space, the survey also asked officers questions about their attitudes to victims. This enabled us to understand some of the further links between police care and the care given the victims. This chapter examines the concept of 'care' in RASSO policing from two distinct perspectives: the care and service provided to victims by police officers, and the care officers themselves require ensuring their wellbeing is supported while being repeatedly exposed to these challenging cases.