November 2002's Issue of Company Magazine has interviews with
four women who have been raped. Their stories are very real and very
hard to read. But, all of them highlight areas of the way people who
have been raped are treated by the whole justice system, and how
there needs to be a huge shake up in the way the law views the crime
of rape and how victims of rape are treated.
Please print out this page and send it to:
Company Magazine will compile the petition and take it to Downing Street to present
their case to the men in suits.
NAME
Call this Justice? Campaign
Company
72 Broadwick Street
London W1 9EP
Have Your Say
Victims of Rape Need
One of the biggest oversights at present is that
the victim isn't legally represented in rape trials, whereas the alleged rapist
has a full legal team on their side. The victim is simply part of the evidence
the Crown prosecution Service (CPS) presents in their case against the alleged
rapist.
If a woman is afraid of standing up in court, or at facing her rapist, she
can ask for screens to be provided, but this has to be argued for beforehand.
A video link should automatically be offered to the victim in rape cases
unless they choose otherwise. It would be easy to provide a room so the victim
can give evidence via a video link. This would also allow her to watch the trial-as
is her right - without having to sit in the public gallery, where her rapist and his
friends and family can see her. Also, the jury can see her reactions which could
influence thier judgement.
Rape cases can often go on for months. The argument
is often that the police need to be sure they have enough evidence, but once a case
has been given to the CPS, it shouldn't take as long as it does to decide the next step.
Rape changes your life, whether you get a trial and conviction
or not. The court case is just part of a long traumatic process of coming to terms
with what has happened. Pre-trial support such as police liaison and special
prosecutors is required beforehand, but a woman may need longer-term support after
the trial. One way of providing this is through organisations such as Rape Crisis.
However, they are a charity, so there is currently no central provision for funding
from the Government.
Rape ruins lives and should be seen as a similar
offence to murder. "Women who have been raped can suffer flashbacks, their
relationships sometimes break down and they may even contemplate suicide" says
our case study, Lisa.
The victim needs to be kept informed of the
procedures involved. A few police forces have liason officers to keep the victim
up to date with events, but some forces have no such support at all. The police
need to liaise more closely with organisations such as Rape Crisis to fill in
these gaps. As Sue Griffiths, spokesperson for the Rape Crisis Federation of England
and Wales says" The most important thing is, women need to feel believed. If you
look at the conviction rate of those cases that do get to court, only 8% result
in a conviction. Does this mean 92% of women who report rape are lying? I don't
think so - it's because the legal process isn't working"
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