Evidentiary Barriers and Investigative Bottlenecks in Public Physical Sexual Harassment: A Socio-Legal Analysis of Police Responses

Abstract

This study investigates the structural enforcement gap between normative statutory protections against non-consensual bodily touching and the complex preliminary investigations in urban public spaces. Using an empirical legal design and a socio-legal approach, this research evaluates investigative bottlenecks across municipal police units, connecting local enforcement dynamics with broader global issues in transit-based gender violence. The findings reveal that preliminary inquiries encounter severe evidentiary hurdles driven by the transient nature of rapid-strike assaults, the absence of independent third-party witnesses, delayed medical-legal reports, and acute victim trauma. These technical obstacles consistently prevent cases from reaching formal judicial prosecution under the Sexual Violence Crimes Law, which triggers institutional impunity. Bridging this empirical-normative divide requires shifting from rigid evidentiary frameworks to a trauma-based investigative model. This reconstructive approach requires actively integrating psychological evaluation reports as valid legal evidence under Article 24 of the Sexual Violence Crimes Law, alongside advanced municipal digital surveillance coordination, to ensure robust constitutional protection and effective criminal deterrence.

Keywords: Physical Sexual Harassment; Evidentiary Barriers; Police Investigation; Sexual Violence Crimes Law; Victim Protection.