British rape laws need urgent reform to prevent injustice
Article here. Excerpt:
'Those who make their living in the criminal justice system are a pretty unshockable lot. Human folly and vice are their trade, after all. Yet one lawyer, who works on a lot of rape cases, tells me he was somewhat startled that lately what he calls “an unchivalrous habit” has sprung up among certain defendants.
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We diminish the pain of every woman who has been raped when we heed the “Ooh, I’ve got a terrible hangover, maybe I was raped last night” school of sexual complaint. The number of women who make malicious allegations is still relatively small, but they are a menace. As one senior lawyer who has worked on many high-profile cases, puts it: “Every single false accusation does immense damage to the cause of those trying to get higher conviction rates for rape.”
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When men have started videoing sexual intercourse lest their partner decides later that she’s been “raped” then something has gone very badly awry in human relations. The Government must act now to stop men being named before they are charged with rape or sexual abuse. There is huge public support for such a measure. No suspect’s name should be put into the public domain until the point when the CPS authorises a charge – except with the consent of a judge after an application by police in very specific cases like that of multiple child abuser, Stuart Hall.'
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