Sex and Violence in 1920s Scotland: Incest, Rape, Lewd and Libidinous Practices, 1918-1930 [Paperback]

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 Scotlandreveals 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?

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 lҤ