Gosh that's terrible.
Rape Accused not to be granted anonymity
- Thread starter Richie
- Start date
Gosh that's terrible.
What happens if both parties are impaired i.e. drunk because i'd imagine in 99% of cases like this both the man and womenj would have been drinking?
Pretty much a regular occurrence in any student club. When the girl doesn't remember because of a hangover then it's rape, even if she said yes at the time.
I think the accused should be anonymous as well, but to be fair that's not an argument totally without merit - publicity does often bring other victims forward and let's not pretend that everyone accused of rape is innocent.
However, I disagree with Harriet Harman's reaction to the news (she was anti-anonymity, so we can't entirely blame the Tories, much as I enjoy doing that). She said that it would send the message we shouldn't believe a woman who says she was raped.
Well actually, Harriet, in this country you're innocent until proven guilty. So you don't believe the accuser is telling the truth until you've weighed up the evidence. Giving anonymity to one party and not the other surely puts the balance in the accuser's favour.
Which is ridiculous, consent under the influence and crying rape when sober is clearly showing lack of control. Not remembering shouldn't absolve their part in what happened and lets face it, if a girl wants to shag you, most males won't say no.
Soldato
- Joined
- 9 Oct 2009
- Posts
- 9,304
- Location
- United Kingdom
Too right, career, social life, friends, family, everything...
Just a classic case of Tories spiting Labour changes just for the sake of politics. I really can't think of any other real reason for this retarded U-turn. Well done. You should be disgusted by how many more lives are going to be irreversibly ruined by your petulant political agendas and point-scoring.
*slow clap*
*slow clap*
It was a con-dem proposal in the first place.
That's where it gets complicated, indeed you can easily end up with a situation where both believe their version of events is correct and there are no witnesses to address it.
These situations are the main reason why I strongly support anonymity for defendants as well as victims.
*headdesk*
That's not a false rape allegation... A false allegation is made when the accuser knows it's false.
Judging by the general tone of this and similar threads in the past, it might be worth a poll:
Which do you think is the more serious crime:
1) Rape
2) Falsely accusing someone of rape
3) Both the same
4) Can you ask me after I've finished this pancake?
Because the tone of some people here suggests that they think that a) false accusations are common, and b) that if anything they are more serious than actual rape. This may not be unrelated to the fact that most posters here are male, and probably feel that only one is likely to affect them. I should point out that stats suggest about 10% of rapes reported to the police are false in at least some way. But then bear in mind that only about 25% of actual rapes are reported, but a much higher proportion of false accusations are (no, it's not 100%: sometimes they tell people other than the police).
M
Which do you think is the more serious crime:
1) Rape
2) Falsely accusing someone of rape
3) Both the same
4) Can you ask me after I've finished this pancake?
Because the tone of some people here suggests that they think that a) false accusations are common, and b) that if anything they are more serious than actual rape. This may not be unrelated to the fact that most posters here are male, and probably feel that only one is likely to affect them. I should point out that stats suggest about 10% of rapes reported to the police are false in at least some way. But then bear in mind that only about 25% of actual rapes are reported, but a much higher proportion of false accusations are (no, it's not 100%: sometimes they tell people other than the police).
M
How are we defining false? There are a far greater number of interpretation issues than there are false allegations, but it's easy at times to get the two confused.
Associate
- Joined
- 8 Jan 2004
- Posts
- 1,188
She's hit the nail right on the head there. Anonymity is needed because too many women DO cry rape.
+2.
Every defendant should be anonymous until PROVEN Guilty in a court of law
Innocent until proven guilty is the corner stone of the law! it seems that society very often assumes that defendants are guilty before they are tried especially in rape cases
Innocent until proven guilty is the corner stone of the law! it seems that society very often assumes that defendants are guilty before they are tried especially in rape cases
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 27 Sep 2004
- Posts
- 25,821
- Location
- Glasgow
It's a rather loaded question, both rape and false accusations of rape can carry serious consequences for the victim. I'd instinctively be inclined to think of rape as the more serious crime in that it is by nature both a physical and mental violation but it's extremely difficult to fairly evaluate such things because as the law will tell you - you have to take the victim as you find them so what is most serious to one may be much less worrisome to another..
The incidence of false accusations and the rate of convictions are not necessarily strongly linked in that just because an accusation is not proven (if only that verdict was an option in English courts) it does not implicitly mean it is false of course, it may simply mean that there was not sufficient weight of evidence to prove guilt which is always likely to be a problem when it is the word of one versus another. Then you've also got the potential for the parties involved to see the situation differently, when in the same situation they may each have their own version of the truth depending on their viewpoint - when does consent start? how is it communicated? what needs to be said/done to signify withdrawal of the consent?
I am talking cases where the accuser knows perfectly well that she wasn't raped. Not cases where she's not sure, or can't remember, but cases where it is done for some motive.
M