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Field
Trial Title
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Before
Strengthening prosecutors capacities for sexual crime investigations: Evidence from Colombia
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After
Strengthening Prosecutors Capacities for Sexual Crime Investigations: Evidence from Colombia
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Trial Start Date
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Before
August 01, 2017
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After
July 01, 2017
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Trial End Date
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Before
May 31, 2018
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June 30, 2018
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Last Published
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Before
June 02, 2018 06:42 AM
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After
September 27, 2018 03:26 PM
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Intervention (Public)
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Before
The training workshops aim to strengthen prosecutors’ capacities on how to effectively manage sexual crimes. Specifically, the main goals of the training workshops are:
(1) Familiarize prosecutors with conceptual terms related to sexual violence and how to approach the investigation process.
(2) Introduce how prejudices and biases can affect investigation processes and how to prevent them.
(3) Crime details and research acts that must be take into account.
(4) Effective trial strategies.
(5) How to treat the victim and apply differential approaches on this type of cases.
This workshop is targeted to judicial investigators and judicial police officers who have the higher proportion of sexual crime cases on their Sectional Division.
Intervention will be done by Setional Division during 2 days (or 16 hours).
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After
The training workshops aim to strengthen prosecutors’ capacities on how to effectively manage sexual crimes. Specifically, the main goals of the training workshops are:
(1) Familiarize prosecutors with conceptual terms related to sexual violence and how to approach the investigation process.
(2) Introduce how prejudices and biases can affect investigation processes and how to prevent them.
(3) Crime details and research acts that must be take into account.
(4) Effective trial strategies.
(5) How to treat the victim and apply differential approaches on this type of cases.
This workshop is targeted to judicial investigators and judicial police officers who have the higher proportion of sexual crime cases on their Sectional Division. Intervention will be done by Setional Division during 2 days (or 16 hours).
After the training, a work session will be held with the management team to report the results and highlight aspects that have to be improved to achieve the expected standards. Finally, a session of 2 hours will also be arranged with the local authorities of the entities involved in the investigation of cases of sexual violence and the attention to victims to present the basic contents of the Protocol and the Checklist.
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Intervention Start Date
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October 01, 2017
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September 01, 2017
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Intervention End Date
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December 31, 2017
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June 30, 2018
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Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
Primary outcomes are divided into two main categories (1) process and (2) stages
1) Process: these outcomes are related to the fluency of the investigation process. These variables are measured in number of days
-Interview: days from the start of the investigation to the interview
-Imputation: days from the start of the investigation to the imputation
-Prosecution: days from the start of the investigation to the prosecution; and from the imputation to the prosecution
-Case unsolved: days from the start of the investigation to moment when it is decided the case cannot be solved; and from the imputation to the date when it is decided that the case cannot be solved.
2) Stages: binary variables that capture what stages did the investigation process reached for each sexual case:
-Interview
-Imputation
-Prosecution
-Case unsolved
-Trial
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After
Data will be aggregated at the prosecutor level for the analysis.
(1) Short-term outcome variables
Initial phase: Investigation process
- Methodological program: average number of days from the complaint (start of the investigation) to the final proposal of methodological program. In every case, prosecutors have to prepare a methodological program describing the facts, hypothesis, and investigation activities.
- Interview:
% cases with at least one reported interview
Average number of days from the start of the investigation to the interview
- Diligence
% cases with at least one reported diligence
Average number of reported diligences by case
Average number of days from the complaint to the first reported diligence
- Unsolved cases:
% total unsolved cases
% "archivo por imposibilidad de establecer sujeto activo o pasivo"
% "archivado por atipicidad" and % "inexistencia del hecho"
- Protection for the victim:
% cases with a request of protection for the victim
Average number of days from the start of the investigation to the request of protection for the victim
(2) Median and long-term outcome variables
Second phase: Indictment
% cases with an indictment
Average number of days from the start of the investigation to the indictment
Thrid phase: Prosecution
% cases with a prosecution
Average number of days from the start of the investigation to the prosecution
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Primary Outcomes (Explanation)
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Before
Primary outcomes will be constructed using information from SPOA (acronym for Sistema Penal Oral Acusatorio, also the name of Colombia’s criminal justice system) which is a reporting and follow-up automated system.
With the training it is expected that the prosecution of sex crime cases is conducted more effectively, increasing the probability of resolution and guaranteeing at the same time, the physical and emotional well-being of victims. Specifically, we expect the training to affect:
• The speed with which investigative actions are ordered, especially at the beginning of the investigation, and specifically related to the collection of evidence.
• The quantity and quality with which the victims collaborate with the investigation process.
• The quality of investigative actions throughout the whole investigative process.
• The probability that cases evolve to a successful resolution.
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After
Primary outcomes will be constructed using information from SPOA (acronym for Sistema Penal Oral Acusatorio, also the name of Colombia’s criminal justice system) which is a reporting and follow-up automated system.
With the training it is expected that the prosecution of sex crime cases is conducted more effectively, increasing the probability of resolution and guaranteeing at the same time, the physical and emotional well-being of victims. Specifically, we expect the training to affect:
• The speed with which investigative actions are ordered, especially at the beginning of the investigation, and specifically related to the collection of evidence.
• The quantity and quality with which the victims collaborate with the investigation process.
• The quality of investigative actions throughout the whole investigative process.
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Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
As the training occurs at the Sectional Division level and all sectionals had to receive the training, we divided the 35 divisions in two groups (18 in the treatment group and 17 in the control group), that would receive the training with a six-month difference. We also stratified by type of Sectional Division. Sectional divisions are grouped by types depending on the number of subdirections each one of them has on their charge.
In each sectional division, only 12 or 13 prosecutors could participate in the training. We created a ranking of prosecutors in each Sectional Division according to their individual load of sexual crime cases (from highest to lowest). The first 12 prosecutors were chosen for the workshop, and in some cases, this number was lower because there were less than 12 prosecutors in some Sectional Divisions. Also, 6 additional prosecutors were chosen to replace the selected ones in case that one of the originally chosen could not attend the training workshop (for Sectional Divisions that had fewer prosecutors, this number was smaller or simply did not exist).
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After
As the training occurs at the Sectional Division level and all sectionals had to receive the training, we divided the 35 divisions in two groups (18 in the treatment group and 17 in the control group), that would receive the training with a six-month difference. We also stratified by type of Sectional Division. Sectional divisions are grouped by types depending on the number of subdirections each one of them has on their charge. In each sectional division, only 12 or 13 prosecutors could participate in the training. We created a ranking of prosecutors in each Sectional Division according to their individual load of sexual crime cases (from highest to lowest). The first 12 prosecutors were chosen for the workshop, and in some cases, this number was lower because there were less than 12 prosecutors in some Sectional Divisions. Also, 6 additional prosecutors were chosen to replace the selected ones in case that one of the originally chosen could not attend the training workshop (for Sectional Divisions that had fewer prosecutors, this number was smaller or simply did not exist).
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Planned Number of Observations
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Before
We would be studying for each sectional all the reports received during the first six months of 2018. Each sectional division receives on average 100 sexual crime reports between january and may. Thus, we should have about 3,500 cases in our dataset.
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After
We will be studying all the reports received during the first six months of 2018 for each sectional division. Analysis will be done at the prosecutor level. Each sectional division received on average 100 sexual crime reports between January and May 2017. Thus, we should have about 3,500 cases in our dataset.
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Secondary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
(3) Investigation quality and final outcomes: improve internal management of Sectional Division in terms of the flow of sexual crimes.
-Number of sexual crimes
-Number of imputations
-Number of cases with interviews
-Number of cases with prosecution
-Number of filed cases
-Number of cases at initial investigation stage
-Number of cases at pre-trial stage
-Number of cases at trial stage
-Number of active cases
-Number of penalties
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After
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Secondary Outcomes (Explanation)
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Before
Secondary outcomes will also be constructed using information from SPOA.
If cases are handled more effectively by prosecutors, and if they evolve successfully, we expect that the number of sex assaults reports increases, as well as the overall performance of sectional divisions in terms of number of cases in each phase.
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After
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