ABSTRACT
Indecent exposure - commonly known as ‘flashing’ - is typically considered to be a minor sexual offence, as indicated in its status as a summary and not indictable offence. This chapter reports on qualitative research with female victims and discusses the appropriateness of qualitative methods to develop a women’s and victims’ perspective on an offence where convicted sex offenders have been the key informants to date. It is argued that only by listening to people with experiences of such offences can we develop our understanding of the motivations for such behaviour and the real consequences for victims. This chapter will focus on the rationale for using semi-structured interviews and focus groups and on the substantive findings to illustrate the value of qualitative methods in victim-focused research.
