bourbiza mohamed
If I might have one want for the brand new 12 months, it will be for Britain’s legal justice system to be reformed in a means that might make sure the arrest, prosecution and conviction of each single rapist within the nation. I don’t imply, after all, any man accused of rape, however each man who has truly dedicated rape.
One of the prevalent and persuasive myths about rape and sexual assault is that a lot of allegations are false and males who’ve been publicly accused of rape however couldn’t be convicted in a court docket of legislation are the victims of grave miscarriages of justice.
In response to the United Nations, “globally, an estimated 736 million girls – virtually one in three – have been subjected to bodily and/or sexual intimate companion violence, non-partner sexual violence, or each a minimum of as soon as of their life.” Regardless of such shockingly excessive figures, there may be nonetheless a presumption that many ladies make false allegations about male violence – particularly, rape.
In the UK, the federal government estimates that false allegations and instances of mistaken identification make up simply 2 to 4 p.c of reported rapes – a determine believed to be broadly correct throughout international locations. After all, males’s rights activists and different anti-feminists by no means point out this determine of their unhinged rants about how girls routinely lie about being sexually assaulted and raped.
At present, in England and Wales, the conviction fee for rape is at an all-time low. Of these reported to police, identified to be simply small a minority of sexual assaults truly dedicated, just one p.c finish in a conviction. Which means, if we additionally take note of the small proportion of false allegations, effectively over 90 p.c of rapists get away with their crimes. These males are certain to be emboldened by their skill to evade justice and can virtually definitely do it once more. Given the horrible, devastating impression that rape typically has on girls subjected to it – leading to chaotic life, drug and alcohol abuse, and different actions fuelled by trauma – victims of rape usually tend to find yourself in jail than their rapists.
The most important obstacles to securing rape convictions within the UK are prejudiced jurors and the reluctance in each degree of the justice system to prosecute “tough” instances – resembling these involving girls in prostitution, drug and alcohol customers, and teenage women, all of whom are sometimes seen as unreliable witnesses.
Opposite to what’s typically mentioned in defence of the low variety of instances attending to court docket, there isn’t a such factor as a intercourse crime prosecution that’s “too tough to prosecute”. Within the UK, the Crown Prosecution Service solely takes intercourse crime instances to court docket if it believes there may be a minimum of a 50 p.c probability of a conviction. This typically implies that the extra difficult instances, or these involving victims who’re thought of imperfect, are dropped.
The benefit of the system in the USA is that prosecutors in Particular Victims Models work completely on intercourse crimes and obtain intensive and ongoing coaching from specialists. These prosecutors play a pivotal position from the second a rape is reported, working with police to analyze the case and creating an intimate understanding of the main points of the crime. This provides them an apparent benefit in terms of presenting their case clearly and persuasively in court docket. By comparability, within the UK, the primary time the complainant will meet the prosecutor is on the trial.
For this reason I advocate for using specialised prosecutors in intercourse crime instances within the UK too. The UK does have prosecutors educated in rape and severe sexual offences, however all that’s required is to have attended a coaching course. These prosecutors additionally tackle a spread of different instances, and their “experience” is, due to this fact, restricted.
What we want is a sort of super-lawyer, extremely educated in each element and facet of intercourse crimes. This would come with laws, forensic science and sufferer/jury psychology, equipping them, for example, to elucidate to jurors that if a complainant laughs or seems bored or distracted within the witness field, this might be the results of trauma.
Prevailing rape myths, resembling “She was asking for it,” “He’s good-looking and doesn’t ‘want’ to rape” and “If she didn’t need it, she would shut her legs,” can poison the thoughts of a juror in opposition to the complainant, regardless of the proof in opposition to the defendant. Girls and women are routinely blamed for being raped – which implies the perpetrator, even when it’s abundantly clear that he’s responsible, is just too typically absolved. That is how patriarchy works: Hold girls and women in fixed concern of male violence, after which when it occurs, put the accountability for it firmly on their shoulders.
One other potential reform put ahead by feminists is the abolition of the jury system in terms of rape and sexual assault trials. Once we make this suggestion, nevertheless, we are sometimes countered with the argument “Our jury system, the bedrock of a good trial, is below menace as it’s.” Whereas that might be the case, if we’re to make sure victims of rape and sexual assault are to seek out justice, we have to take drastic measures. Rape myths are entrenched in society. Not solely these working within the justice system, from police to prosecutors and judges, but additionally all potential jurors carry these myths with them into courtrooms. Whereas these actively working the system may be educated to look past their prejudices, such coaching can hardly be prolonged to jurors. Thus, it might be useful to girls for rape and sexual assault trials to not contain jurors.
At present, the justice system within the UK is designed to assist perpetrators of rape and sexual assault at each step of the way in which.
For instance, police routinely attempt to entry the counselling and remedy notes of rape victims, which might then be learn by them in addition to prosecutors, defence legal professionals – and even the perpetrator. These notes can often be useful for the prosecution – if, for instance, the sufferer had spoken intimately concerning the rape, her personal trauma on account of it and had not slipped up on any of the main points – however that is uncommon. They’re extra possible for use to discredit her in a roundabout way, resembling making a mistake about dates or instances, or the place the perpetrator is a present or former companion, telling the therapist that she nonetheless “loves” him.
Campaigners, together with the Centre for Girls’s Justice, are working with Rape Disaster England and Wales on a marketing campaign to “Hold Counselling Confidential”, calling for a change within the legislation to make it rather more tough for authorized advocates to insist on accessing the information of victims who’ve sought assist from counsellors and therapists.
Entry to such information needs to be granted solely by order of a decide in distinctive circumstances – and solely after the perpetrator has been charged with the offence.
Some years in the past, I interviewed a rape sufferer who informed me about her counselling information being made out there on the trial of her ex-husband. Sandra* had disclosed to the therapist that she had by no means felt snug having intercourse along with her husband, partly as a result of she had been abused as a baby.
As a part of their investigation into the perpetrator, police accessed her counselling notes, which they have been then compelled to share along with his defence workforce. When Sandra found that the rapist had learn her remedy notes, she felt so weak and uncovered that she dropped the costs.
In 2024, I don’t wish to hear the standard excuse that “rape is nearly unattainable to convict” as a result of it’s “her phrase in opposition to his”. If police and prosecutors perform thorough and accountable investigations, leaving no stone unturned, and care for the complainant so she provides her greatest proof, many extra rapists could be locked up. By eliminating the myths and untruths surrounding rape and making a correct dedication to the victims of this heinous crime, the system may be improved with out compromising the rights of the defendant.
*Not her actual title
The views expressed on this article are the creator’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
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