Rape victims must hand over phone or police won't pursue crime

Nope sorry. It has nothing to do with evidence gathering.

How does a phone prove anything?

It should be the rapists that have their phones taken for evidence! First and foremost, as they are more likely to find threats of violence and sexual assault.

Same with any criminals, but for the victimvictims?

What's the source of such a decision... where's this latest load of crazy come from, who decided it would be a good idea to further victimise the victim?

It seems its still based on who the victim is

Fucking awful. Simply so it can be said "oh look, she sent him all these friendly messages so what happened was obviously consensual. Throw the case out"
It makes my blood boil

I would be interested to know how this relates to how the police to proceed in terms of crimes in a more general sense. I find it difficult to comment otherwise. I would expect, for example, that if you have a house break in, you pretty much haveto let the police into your house in order to have them investigate. And even with rape, you realistically have to allow for medical examination. For financial crime they will need to see what may be private financial information.
So I would make a general statement that an unfortunate element of crime is that it renders the private public in a very unpleasant way. I think that is part of the reason crime is not just about offences against persons, but creates a kind of larger social breakdown. That breakdown of the barrier between the personal and public is a kind of social trespass that people have to endure because of the crime. It's bad for the victim, ad I think its also bad for the investigators and the public.

I can imagine why phones have become an element of proving certain crimes like rape, and in fact I think there are many violent crimes where people are asked to give access to their phones. I don't like the idea of it, but then I don't really know what not doing it would involve. It also raises questions I think about the way in which digital technology records so much of our lives - it opens a lot of doors to crime fighting - look at how police have used ancestry dna companiesor ctv - but the other side of that may always be lack of privacy. This seems like another instantiation of that - because the tech is there, it becomes a factor for the defence and proving the case.

This is disgusting.

Dangerous (to leave recently raped person with lack of phone for god knows how long). Creates a hierarchy of who is an acceptable victim- by putting off any young girl or woman who is not perfectly law-abiding, from reporting so police won’t see from her phone that she or her friend or whoever else has drunk alcohol underage/taken or sold drugs/shoplifted/whatever it is.

Penalises polite young girls and women who are having to be humouring a boy or man who has their contact details and is after them for their own safety- often not safe to ignore, block, tell him to fuck off etc. Safer to reply politely.

Penalises anyone who said they fancied their attacker or whatever before he raped them.

It’s just awful.

What the ever living fuck?

Sorry, I had decided to try and swear less after Easter, but fucking, fucking what?

The stories of ignored deaths is a crisis that never seems to go away and those in a position to change this don't seem to

I hate that victims are treated so horribly. I’m probably talking out of my arse but for rape cases I think there ought to be some proper regulations. No jury, or if we have to have a jury then let’s have one who have received some training in rape myths. Same for judges. I read one judge’s comments recently in mounting horror as I saw them justify their decision that the victim was in fact too successful to be raped, as she had a career, and friends. I think he also said she wasn’t showing enough emotion. I’m in the dark in the toddlers room so can’t really search for links but it’s all so fucking horribly depressing.

Katrina O'Hara was murdered after the police seized her phone when she reported her ex for harassment and she had no way to call for help:

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/08/woman-was-killed-by-ex-lover-just-days-after-police-seized-her-phone

This is about stripping rape victims of their privacy and dignity. Like holding their underwear up in court or reading their diaries.

Smother exactly

Women's equality seems to be in free fall, and crisis, as much as, or worse than ever.

Smotheroffive I can’t quite bear to link to it but a very recent case proved that even if it is filmed the rapist will get away with it

Badger I only said to my DH last week if I was raped I very much doubt I would report it.
Same for my kids, I would support them in what they decided to do.

I am confused about how they can legally say they will not prosecute?!?

Without a phone, what sort of personal information do the police demand to know?

I think this must be contravention of some sort of human right? How is this legal?

It's not evidence, its inadmissible, unless the act was filmed, but then a rapist would make sure that was deleted. Nothing else is relevant

Blonde my concerns are about teaching them how to deal with all this madness. And what they have to teach their DC.
I find it so sad that my GC will have to be taught at quite a young age of the dangers of violent porn.

No of course the accused don’t have to give up their phones for full and thorough investigation they’re also allowed to have their victim extensively cross-examined on the stand, just like someone accused of a crime, by their hostile barristers. Barristers of course just doing their job but I see no reason why the victim of a rape should have to take the stand and submit to cross-examination. It’s fucked. Just utterly fucked. No wonder reporting is so low. Would you? Would you advise a friend to? Or a daughter? I bloody wouldn’t. I’d say, I will support you in whatever avenue you decide, but if you choose to heal in your own way, without having it raked up in court, I will support you in that and you will not be judged. Horrible.

''Police and prosecutors say the forms are an attempt to plug a gap in the law, which cannot force complainants or witnesses to disclose their phones, laptops, tablets and smart watches.''

www.itv.com/news/2019-04-29/rape-victims-must-hand-over-phones-or-prosecutions-may-not-go-ahead-police/

I don't see how a consent form can override the law, especially if it is used with a threat (to drop the investigation), or if it means physical evidence is ignored.

Yep, all ages.

There's need to be a ban on trying to discredit sa victims

Redstone, anyone can be raped, not just teenage girls.
Disappointing news, hope it doesn't come to fruition

Watch Goat!!

This is how young men in frat houses are carrying on!

What chance in 2019 of change?

This is crisis

Just glad I found MN.

Because this is grim.

No, just the victims.

Are men accused of rape also "told to give police access to phones"?

A girl I used to work with was sexually harassed by a co-worker at a social gathering. She had to hand her phone over to the police to ‘investigate’.

Well they can already kill their date and claim it was BDSM sex gone wrong.

I am so glad that my DDs are already adults.
I think parenting teens must be really hard at this moment in time.