Rape only happens to women who are out late at night.
Fact: Rape happens everywhere. It happens at all hours of the day and night. It
happens
in our homes, in the street, at work, in car parks, in public places as well as in
remote places.
These facts were compiled from a combination of many lists from various
rape crisis centres. (American information from the Department Of
Justice)
Facts and figures the shocking
truth
- The numbers of rapes that were reported to the police trebled between 1985 and
1993, but the number
of men who were
convicted of rape has remained virtually the same.
- According to Home Office statistics, out of the 4600 rapes reported in
1993 less than 10% resulted in a conviction. That was a drop of 24% on the figures for 1985.
- In 1993 only 89 convictions for rape out of a study of 335 cases of alleged rape
rape were achieved.
165 complainants dropped out before the start of court proceedings for a number of different
reasons.
The main
ones were because the woman withdrew
her allegations, refused to testify, the suspect was never identified and charged, or the police
decided to drop the case because they felt the allegations were false.
Of the 170 cases that eventually did end up in court
34 defendants
were acquitted or had the case against them dismissed, and a further 47 were convicted
of lesser offences.
- A Thames Valley Police survey showed that although 90% of women who had
never experienced a sexual
attack, when surveyed believed they would report the crime, in reality only about
6% of women who had
actually
been raped made formal allegations
- A staggering 83% of rape victims knew their attackers, and almost half of all
rapes happened in the victim's home. The vast
majority of alleged victims are under 30 with a fairly high proportion
of those aged under 16.
On trial the victim of rape
or the perpetrator?
Why is it that so many rape victims feel it is them and not the alleged rapists who are put
on trial
in the court room?
- In common with almost all criminal trials, the legal system does seem to favour
the defendant, but even more so in rape trials.
The accused is allowed to discuss his case with his lawyers before and during
the trial. He is allowed to build a very close relationship with his lawyers
whilst awaiting trial,
especially as he will have had to appear in a magistrates court
several times before the case is even referred to crown court and the trial itself.
The laws of disclosure also allow him access to all of the prosecution
evidence, including the victim's and other witness's statements giving him and his lawyers
ample
time to plan all angles of questioning that may take place at the trial.
- Not all cases are straight forward. If on arrest the perpetrator admits the charge of rape
it is a simple case of him appearing in court and being sentenced for the crime. However in
most cases the perpetrator on questioning thinks he has nothing to loose by admitting he was
not guilty, knowing that it is then up to the police to collect as much evidence as possible
so that they can refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service. The CPS will only proceed
with a case if they think there is enough evidence for them to take it to trial and
by doing so stand a good chance of it resulting in a conviction. The CPS are then
the
prosecutors.
- So unlike the perpetrator, once the CPS are involved
the victim is not allowed to confer with the prosecution lawyers in order to prepare the
case before it goes to court. She will never have met the lawyers acting on behalf
of the CPS. The victim has no right to see any of the statements
other than her own which she is allowed to read prior to entering the court room,
just to refresh her memory. She will have no idea of the questions she is likely to face,
or how she should answer them, because she has no idea about what the perpetrator has said
in his statements. She is not allowed to call witnesses to give character references. Only
the first person she spoke to after the alledged rape happened is allowed to give evidence
on her behalf.
She has no one in the courtroom that really knows her or anything much about her, outside
of what is written in statements (apart form the perpetrator if he wasn't a stranger)
So the victim enters the court room feeling very scared, nervous and ill prepared
for what can only be described as a public scrutiny of her life, morals, way of
behaving and a need to prove her innocence when in fact she was the victim not
the perpetrator. Appearing in court under any circumstances is always difficult, but when
it is a rape trial it is even harder for the victim who will have to undergo questioning about
very painful, embarrasing, truamatic personal and intimate details of something that will
have left deep emotional scars.
- This system would appear to discriminate particularly hard against rape
victims. The whole issue at stake is usually NOT whether sex took place, but whether or
not the victim CONSENTED to intercourse.
- The Sexual Offences Amendment Act (1976) says that a victim's sexual
history or character cannot be
brought up as evidence except at the judge's discretion, and then only if it
is strictly relevant. However in practice quite often the victims past sexual behaviour
is
flaunted before the court. In most other trials, once a complainant's
reputation comes under attack, the defendant's past is open for scrutiny too.
However in rape cases it is up to the judge to decide
whether he will allow references to the alleged rapist's history. It matters not
that any ammount of
attacks may have been already made on the victim's character.
- Sometimes the jurors expectations of a rape victim are often at odds with
the victims real experiences. Although they are supposed to be non judgemental
and make their desicions based on evidence they have heard in the courtroom, they
are more likely to convict when they hear evidence
about a
'respectable' looking
sexually inexperienced woman who suffered injury when
raped by a stranger, and who reported the incident within 24 hours, than someone
from a lower class background, with
a "colourful" sexual history, and who waited some time before going to the police, even
the incidents may have been similar.
After reading the facts is it really so hard to understand why so many women are
reluctant to persue their allegations of rape through the justice system as
it stands right now? So many women feel that to go through the discrimination
of the courts, finding the strength and determination that is needed to be able
to withstand
the rigorous ordeals
of the questioning only to face the prospect of the perpetrator
not being convicted or being accused of a lesser charge is way beyond their capability.
The
law as it stands offers little deterrent to rapists, and even less justice to its victim.
So, until the justice laws are reformed i see little hope that more rape victims will come
forward and
feel
able to report these insidious, heinous crimes, when faced with the knowledge of the
courtroom proceedures reflected here.
Last updated 11th October 1998
