Ladies, I fear we are seeing a further retreat away form the ideals that we hold dear. Bad enough that we are deemed so irrelevant that there are only a couple of token women in the Cabinet, (and ones whose ability is I think not beyond question), but now the Powers that Be are planning to introduce legislation to grant anonymity to those who are accused of rape. As if that was the problem with rape cases.
THE PROBLEM WITH RAPE CASES IS THAT PERPETRATORS ROUTINELY ESCAPE CONVICTION.
Let's be clear. In order to do this, the Powers that Be will have to argue that rape is someone more serious a crime than say murder and manslaughter. That there is something more serious about that offence that warrants anonymity with neither murder or manslaughter do. The difference is of course that the conviction rate for murder and manslaughter is higher. For no other serious offence is the conviction rate as low as it is for rape cases. Men are, as it stands, able to rape with relative impunity. If we go down this route, that impunity will only increase.
Let's not bother with the argument that victims get anonymity whereas defendants do not. If you have been raped, the odds of seeing the person that did this go to prison are not only slim, but close to non-existent. The process is stacked against you from the start. Following such an appalling and life changing trauma, not only will you be accused of being a liar and a fantasist, you will have to suffer the additional humiliation of seeing the person who ruined you lift walk free, or worse, not prosecuted at all. These are the bare facts of the matter. No, when it comes to rape cases, there is no such thing as a level playing field. All the odds are stacked in favour of the defendant and this will simply add to it.
There is another point as well. In criminal cases, it is now possible to adduce evidence of bad character if someone has been accused of committing similar comparable offences. If your rapist is a serial one, and has previously been acquitted, it is possible to introduce this evidence to test their credibility. However, if defendants are anonymous, how will those who have been victims previously know to come forward? How can those who commit this crime routinely be scrutinised when they are being kept from the public gaze.?
This proposal is simply another way for those who rape to subvert justice and make a mockery of our laws.
THE PROBLEM WITH RAPE CASES IS THAT PERPETRATORS ROUTINELY ESCAPE CONVICTION.
Let's be clear. In order to do this, the Powers that Be will have to argue that rape is someone more serious a crime than say murder and manslaughter. That there is something more serious about that offence that warrants anonymity with neither murder or manslaughter do. The difference is of course that the conviction rate for murder and manslaughter is higher. For no other serious offence is the conviction rate as low as it is for rape cases. Men are, as it stands, able to rape with relative impunity. If we go down this route, that impunity will only increase.
Let's not bother with the argument that victims get anonymity whereas defendants do not. If you have been raped, the odds of seeing the person that did this go to prison are not only slim, but close to non-existent. The process is stacked against you from the start. Following such an appalling and life changing trauma, not only will you be accused of being a liar and a fantasist, you will have to suffer the additional humiliation of seeing the person who ruined you lift walk free, or worse, not prosecuted at all. These are the bare facts of the matter. No, when it comes to rape cases, there is no such thing as a level playing field. All the odds are stacked in favour of the defendant and this will simply add to it.
There is another point as well. In criminal cases, it is now possible to adduce evidence of bad character if someone has been accused of committing similar comparable offences. If your rapist is a serial one, and has previously been acquitted, it is possible to introduce this evidence to test their credibility. However, if defendants are anonymous, how will those who have been victims previously know to come forward? How can those who commit this crime routinely be scrutinised when they are being kept from the public gaze.?
This proposal is simply another way for those who rape to subvert justice and make a mockery of our laws.
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