Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Ethics Playing Cards
Copyright © 2025 Compass Ethics
9
A known sex-worker reports a sexual assault. Should you treat the case differently due to the IP’s profession?
Case Studies
- A woman decides to invite a man over after a night out. After his short visit, the woman makes her way to the police station to press rape charges. Does it matter that she invited him over?
- Does the age of the complainant affect the way you would deal with the case? What if it was an elderly resident in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s?
- How would you handle a case where a known criminal is robbed at knifepoint, or burgled?
Discussion
- Does context matter? Clearly, no-one should be treated differently or discriminated against just because of their line of work.
- It is possible that some colleagues may have entrenched views that need to be challenged. How do you do this in an appropriate way?
- Are your teams fully trained and equipped to deal with sexual assaults against males as well as females (both straight males and from the LGBTQ+ community?)
Impartiality is vital for the profession. Regardless of the antecedents of the victim, they are entitled to an impartial, diligent, and professional investigation. They have human rights and the police are under a positive obligation (Article 8) and they must never be exposed to harm if the police responsibility to act is identified.
However, context may be important, and there may be a need to handle aspects of the inquiry in a different way. E.g. “why did you let them in your house” is a valid question, but questions of consent don’t become less important due to the transactional nature of any encounter.