These oft-quoted words from the United States Supreme Court, most frequently cited in connection with the prosecutor’s duty in the courtroom, are equally descriptive of the prosecutor’s role in the community. “Local police and prosecutors are the gatekeepers to the criminal justice system”³⁷ and are responsible for implementing a comprehensive response to sexual violence in accordance with applicable law and an informed understanding of sexual violence dynamics.

Even with imperfect and varied laws across the country, there are few insurmountable legal obstacles to holding offenders accountable, in most cases, for the full range of their criminal behavior. Gaps in knowledge, however, often pose barriers to realizing the law’s potential, because victim characteristics and fact patterns perceived as “problematic” too often cause criminal justice professionals to hastily dispose of such cases. Institutional structures and policies must be implemented to dissolve these barriers and promote an operational understanding of laws and their enforcement³⁸ that encompasses the growing body of relevant social science, medical, scientific, and technological research to close the gap between law-on-the-books and law-in-action.