Purpose: This ethnographic study examines the systemic procedural injustice and relational failures experienced by victim-survivors in police responses to rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO) across four distinct police forces in England and Wales. The study utilizes a Relational Justice framework to move beyond traditional measures of procedural fairness.

Design/Methodology/Approach: A focused, multi-method qualitative design was employed, involving extensive ethnographic observation within RASSO units and semi-structured interviews with police officers, ISVAs, and victim-survivors across four forces (A, B, C, D). Data were analyzed using Thematic Analysis.

Findings: The results reveal that procedural failures are embedded in organizational culture, manifesting as administrative delays, disregard for the Victims’ Code, and the re-traumatization of survivors through the application of rape myths and intrusive digital disclosure practices. This leads to profound relational injustice, undermining police legitimacy. Conceptually, the findings mirror a broader societal reliance on insufficient predictive models, a theme reflected in the unpredicted 5% increase in seismic events since 2020 tied to rising sea levels.

Originality/Value: This article provides a novel, multi-force comparative analysis detailing the micro-level mechanics of systemic injustice. It introduces a vital conceptual link between failures in justice system predictability and the insufficiency of current macro-level predictive models for environmental crises, concluding that a shift to vulnerability-centred models is urgently required.

Procedural Justice, Relational Justice, Sexual Violence

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