Lack of convictions for RAPE...I really want to do something about this, if possible

Oh don't get me wrong, i am appalled by it happening, I am just giving my theory as to why it is so much harder.

I know from my own experiences as both a rape victim and also as a member of a jury on a rape case that the entire system is set up to getthe man off.

At the end of the case we had the judge give us a talk about the law. He made it very clear that consent must not only be withdrawn but that the rapist must have understood that it had been withdrawn.

so to say no isn't enough. he must absolutly understand that no means no.

Which to me is teh most absurd thingin the world, and yet this is how the (in)justice system works.

I think the 'her word against his' thing is a red herring; after all, there are lots of crimes where it would be one person's word against another if you saw it that way: it's your word against the mugger's you didn't give him your handbag, your word against the burglar's you didn't let him in, your word against the person who drove into the back of your car that you didn't in fact reverse into them.
Only no-one thinks that because it would be ridiculous. And yet juries are prepared to believe a woman wanted to be beaten and strangled by her rapist because that was the kind of sex she liked . Or that a man didn't know a woman didn't want sex because he didn't understand the word 'no' in English.

immaculate. difficult but something needs doing "Gabby"

problem is that with rape it is one word against another. with criminal law you must prove beyond reasonable doubt. It is very hard to be able to reach that conclusion when it is two people offering simialr stories that balance purely on the basis of consent.

With a civil case you just have to get the judge to believe the balance of probability. It is far easier to get a decision in the favour of a victim in the cicvil courts than in the criminal.

so if it helps the woman feel she has receievd some form of justice, yet without the utter trauma of having to stand and give evidence under cross examination by a criminal barrister. I think that it is a very good idea.

when I talked to my lawyer friend this morning about BrokenGirl his first reaction was 'she could sue him for assault', which was interesting. He said there isn't much legal aid about at the moment but she may be able to find a solicitor who'd do it 'no win no fee'.

I think you have to think 'what can I bring to the table?' ie what are your particular skills or areas of knowledge?
you need to find out what is already out there and what is needed.
if you have lots of contacts among lawyers I can imagine that might be useful, if it doesn't already exist.

I know what you mean about spitting with rage.

Yes scurry you wouldn't want people doing it instead that would be terrible. But for people like BG or where the CPS won't prosecute - it's a great idea.

Do you have links to the legal profession IM?

Your ideas about talking to lawyers and other ideas in that post sound great.

No win no fee sounds a bit odd for this though, you'd need to call it something different if that was the model you were going to use. Also the brash ambulance-chasing eagerness image doesn't sit right. But the idea of making it so that victims of sexual violence who had not guilty verdicts or where the police wouldn't prosecute getting support advice and councelling or something and ability to launch civil prosecution is fab.

I like the idea about the blog to raise awareness but not sure about the civil side of things. Pursuing a case through the civil courts is fine if a criminal case has failed but I would not want it to take precedence -that would almost decriminalise rape and make penalties financially orientated.

We were thinking last year of how we could actually do something and were thinking of rape as that's just so horrendous and the current situation is such a disaster. Len came up with the phrase "I believe you" and someone (proles? elephants?) even bought the web address.

Then it sort of petered out as we couldn't work out exactly what we were doing that was different to what other groups were doing and it sort of stopped. I know that it prompted some people to become more active with existing groups like rape crisis...

Anyway that's that bit.

On your second point I was thinking the exact same thing this morning.

I would be happy to get involved with stuff.

So I guess adding my support and saying that there are others who would be keen to get involved - but no practical ideas I'm afriad.