Overview
Using case records of prosecutions at the Scottish High Court of Justiciary between 1918 and 1930, this book takes a quantitative and qualitative approach to understand sexual violence in Scotland at this time. Analysing legal records alongside victim and witness testimonies, Louise Heren analyses who committed sexual violence against whom, where and how and, to an extent, looks to uncover the victims’ voice. Assessing how the courts responded, Sex and Violence in 1920s Scotland reveals that, despite pejorative views of working-class female behaviour, the successful conversion of prosecutions to convictions was greater than what is seen in modern sexual assault cases. In a society adjusting to post-conflict stresses, there were fears expressed in middle-class circles that those most affected by the First World War might react with violence. However, the High Court archives suggest otherwise. Cases of incest, rape and sexual assault appears to have been endemic, an opportunistic crime against older victims yet often pre-meditated against the youngest; selfish crimes that suggest toxic masculinity among some working-class men. The book concludes with the ultimate question: why did these men perpetrate sexual violence?
Full Product Details
Author: Louise Heren (Oxford Brookes University, UK) ,
Anne-Marie Kilday (Oxford Brookes University UK)
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions:
Width: 15.40cm
, Height: 1.40cm
, Length: 23.20cm
Weight: 0.420kg
ISBN: 9781350227811
ISBN 10: 1350227811
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 24 April 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
The author painstakingly tallies the cases and identifies key patterns in Scottish sexual violence contained in the case details … Most interestingly, the volume brings to the fore some lived experiences and voices of the anonymous victims of sexualassault included the record set. * Scotia: Interdisciplinary Journal of Scottish Studies *
The author painstakingly tallies the cases and identifies key patterns in Scottish sexual violence contained in the case details … Most interestingly, the volume brings to the fore some lived experiences and voices of the anonymous victims of sexualassault included the record set. * Scotia: Interdisciplinary Journal of Scottish Studies * [T]his is an important book. One can only marvel at the stoicism it must have taken on the part of the author to write about these cases; it is not easy to read either. And yet, I cannot recall when I last read a work of academic history that made me want to reach into the text and hold the hand of a protagonist. I did on this occasion. * English Historical Review *
Author Information
Louise Heren is Research Affiliate in the Department of Criminal History at Oxford Brookes University, UK.
