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The processing of rape cases is said to be strongly influenced by a tendency to blame the victim. Whether or not the victim was drinking, hitchhiking, had a "bad" reputation, had a prior sexual relationship with the offender, or reported the crime promptly have all been identified as influencing the prosecution of these cases. A study was conducted in Detroit to determine the extent to which characteristics of the victim affected the processing of aggravated versus simple rapes. Aggravated rapes were those involving strangers, multiple offenders, a weapon, or injury. Cases without any of these characteristics were considered simple rapes.
The researchers found that aggravated rapes were more likely to occur away from home and to produce physical evidence of the crime, but the two kinds of rape did not differ significantly in any other way. Both simple and aggravated rapes were equally likely to be prosecuted, and characteristics of the victim appeared to play no role in the outcome of the case. The investigators found that "walking alone late at night, hitchhiking and accompanying a man to his home apparently did not lead a victim to be blamed for precipitating a rape." If these findings hold true in other cities, we can conclude that the processing of rape cases through the criminal justice system is based on the offender's conduct rather than on that of the victim.
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