Does the impact on the victim have impact on the court? : an exploratory study of female offenders

This paper reviews the literature and research on the recently introduced legal innovation, the Victim Impact Statement (VIS); and explores its effects on female offenders in the criminal justice system in Queensland. Other factors previously identified as influencing sentencing decisions, such as prior offences, weapon use, and pre-sentence time in custody, are also considered. Data from the Queensland District Court were gathered for the years 1998 through to 2001, for cases where the crime of ‘assault occasioning bodily harm’ was the most serious offence charged. Of the total cases randomly selected, in 27 (11%) of the cases, the defendant was female, and in 9 (33%) of these matters a VIS was presented to the court. It is these 27 cases that form the basis of this analysis, which is exploratory in design and interpretation, due to the small number of female offenders in the random sample. Importantly, for all variables, VIS included, a more lenient sentence was rendered when the condition was absent (no VIS presented, no prior offences) rather than when it was present. In addition, the factors under investigation appeared to work cumulatively, in that the more factors present (prior offences, VIS, weapon, or pre-sentence time in custody), the greater the likelihood of a conviction being recorded against the offender. The implications of these findings for the effects of victim participation in the criminal justice system on female offenders are discussed, along with recommendations for future research.