AIBU to think rape is now legal in the UK?

Oh, our resident rozzer has arrived to Tansplain why piss poor rape convictions are in no the fault if a misogynist culture in policing.

You'd think our resident police apologist would want to look at the ways you CAN increase reporting and conviction rather than blaming the victims and saying that its a bit hard.

A microcosm of the larger issue.

I'm not sure this is a government that cares about women, you guys.

First of all the judiciary and the police are independent of the government nor has the burden of proof, in a criminal court, changed under this government.

Finally, what were the stats when Sir Keir Stamer, the multimillionaire, was head of the DPP ?.

Naunet
Evidence that has already been detailed on this thread for a start.

Such as..... unless i have missed it you need to refer to it.

As I said above, it is a difficult offence to prove beyond reasonable doubt as it is often one word against another. All the forensics are often immaterial if the suspect says that it was consensual.

Evidence that has already been detailed on this thread for a start.

Its a huge topic as to why the conviction rate is so low. As has been mentioned on here, it is a difficult offence to prove beyond reasonable doubt as it is often one word against another. All the forensics are often immaterial if the suspect says that it was consensual.

You also have to consider that a lot of victims/survivors don't want to pursue the matter to court. They don't want to relive it all through the courts again in 6 months time. A lot just want to be supported and believed and that will be enough to allow them to move forward . A lot are content with the fact that the suspect has been arrested and interviewed and the whole case is recorded.

I don't think we should be putting any pressure on victims/survivors to pursue the cases to court against their will just because the conviction rate is low.

If a rape is reported, it will be an urgent response to it - especially if it has just happened or within the forensic window

If it is an historic report - it will be still high up on the list of priorities as safeguarding will need to be done

What evidence are you referring to?

It often doesn’t, because there is plenty of evidence, but you keep telling yourself that.

So why isn’t GBH on there? Same thing, no?

Naunet
Oh please!!! As has been mentioned on this thread many times, they often have a shit tonne of evidence and still do nothing.

It often comes down to word against word - which often isn't enough to prove beyond reasonable;e doubt.

No rape is not legal.
The difference is that the law states it as illegal.

Are you suggesting that because of the low conviction rate, we may as well make it legal ??? Or do you see the value in it still be illegal in law?

The coniviction rates are shocking and i believe that is an absolute disgrace and needs to change, but its still illegal.

Oh please!!! As has been mentioned on this thread many times, they often have a shit tonne of evidence and still do nothing.

YANBU, irrespective of what it states in statute, the outcome is essentially the same as if it was legal.

Women always have been - and continue to be - 2nd class citizens.

This. Police can’t magic evidence out of thin air.

Typically yes, along with their houses etc. being searched and pertinent information and items seized as well.

They class urgent as immediate risk to life, imminent danger and crime in progress for example. Whilst rape is horrific if it's not happening at the time you call, which of course it's not likely to be, then calling 999 wouldn't get help any quicker than calling the non emergency line. 999 should be for happenings that need immediate police presence.

Yep, as if the fact that the man said he was trying his luck and so didn’t get consent made it all perfectly reasonable and fine, it’s just what lads do. I was absolutely disgusted at the time that the interviewing officers didn’t pick him up on that or even seem to think there was anything wrong with it.

Theres a couple of other cases I read about that we’re particularly shocking to me - a woman who was raped whilst in labour, and the man (her husband) got off with it, because of course, poor men can’t understand that the last thing a woman would want to do whilst giving birth, is have sex. Another where a woman was raped whilst wearing a tampon. The rapist claimed it was because she wanted it so bad she didn’t want to stop to take it out - because yeah, that’s what women do isn’t it? Then there was the girl in America who was gang raped whilst unconscious ON FILM, and the men still got off with it.

WTF? And they still put it on telly?

No, it’s really not as hard as we’re all led to believe. I remember watching a rape case (that ended up being dropped by the police) on 24 hours in police custody. The man ADMITTED he anally raped her, said he did not get her consent and was trying his luck - the police didn’t even pick him up on that confession in the interview.

You’re not wrong OP, we pay it lip service and that’s it. Men can rape freely in the knowledge that they have a huge, huge chance of getting away with it, and even if they are caught, and end up in court, there’s no big penalty.

I'm sorry 💐 And angry on your behalf.

I have been raped three times. The first time, when I was 17, I did go to the police. The policeman I spoke to told me that I shouldn't bother taking it further as I didn't have a 'hope in hell' of it going to court as I had absolutely no proof. It was also implied that I would end up looking like a troublemaker and it would be best to just leave it, and that because I'd had a few drinks at a party beforehand it would be harder to prove. That was, admittedly, 30-odd years ago but given the number of convictions for rape I'm not convinced much has changed re attitudes.

The second and third time I was raped I didn't even bother reporting it.

It is not the same everywhere
I can believe that men get off assaults for spurious reasons everywhere. That's kind of understandable given the presumption of "innocent until proven guilty".

Sweden has "sex without consent" rather than rape and their conviction rate has increased as a result
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sweden-crime-rape-law-trfn-idUSKBN23T2R3

This study showed England, Wales and Scotland had the lowest conviction rate in Europe in 2006 and we've got even worse since then

"Convictions have increased at an even
slower rate of 92%, doubling from 450 in 1985 to 863 in 2006. The conviction rate reached an all-time low of 5% in 2003 and 2004, with a slight reversal to 6% in 2005-2006, and 6.5% in 2006-7. This is the second lowest conviction rate in Europe after Scotland."

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=cwasu.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/England_and_Wales.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj6u5Xp64X-AhUEnVwKHdWuATs4FBAWegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw0SoFyBVd88Nahl1QCokgqY

The British performance on prosecuting rapes is shameful and its insulting to say "its the same everywhere"