성폭력 피해 진술의 신뢰성은 어떻게 평가되는가? - 수사 경찰의 경험에 대한 질적 연구 -

초록

Police investigators handling sexual violence cases face a dilemma between the institutional demand to respect victim statements and the investigative principle of verifying their truthfulness. As public concern regarding false allegations has increased, the burden on investigators has intensified. However, empirical research examining how this tension manifests in investigative settings remains limited. This study aimed to explore the criteria and processes through which police investigators evaluate the reliability of victim statements, as well as the barriers that arise in this process. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with ten police investigators assigned to sexual violence cases for at least one year. The collected data were analyzed using the directed content analysis approach. The analysis yielded four overarching categories and eleven subcategories. Investigators utilized statement consistency and specificity as key criteria for assessing reliability. Gender sensitivity facilitated contextual understanding of victims' behaviors; however, divergent applications across criminal justice actors reduced the predictability of investigative outcomes. In suspected false allegation cases, barriers including excessive workload, fear of complaints, and role conflict led investigators to adopt passive rather than proactive responses. These findings demonstrate that the evaluation of statement reliability is shaped by cognitive biases, organizational culture, and institutional pressures. By incorporating the voices of frontline investigators, this study provides an empirical foundation for an investigative environment in which victim protection and the pursuit of substantive truth function as complementary objectives.

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