Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

Original poster

Transgender rapist - with anatomy of a man- jailed for 15 years - local newspaper grapples with how to report news when words have lost their meaning

33 replies

stumbledin · 18/01/2021 18:17

So first off - in no way wanting to say the crime isn't the real story.

But just wanted to highlight how the stupidity of pretending identity is the same as the reality of sex (and so totally part of the crime being reported) is leading to this sort of nonsense.

ie the newspaper should have been able to report that a man was found guilty of raping a woman. Angry

The report says:

A transgender rapist “with a propensity to violence” - who identifies as a woman but is yet to undergo surgery- has been jailed for 15 years.

Michelle Winter, 49, was referred to by female pronouns throughout a trial at Cambridge Crown Court; Winter has the anatomy of a man.

(There is nothing in the report to say where Winter will serve his prison sentence)

OP posts:
JaniceBattersby · 18/01/2021 18:44

And also, if you’re reporting from court and they use female pronouns then you have a legal duty to report accurately what happened. You’d be in contempt of court if you changed quotes etc. I prefer to go neutral and dance around the subject by calling the defendant by their name throughout rather than ‘he’ or ‘she’. It avoids abuse online and it is easier to slip past an editor.

yourhairiswinterfire · 18/01/2021 18:42

Showing more respect for a piece of shit rapist than they are for the victim of aforementioned piece of shit.

I'd rather go to prison than call a rapist 'she'. Court is supposed to be about facts and evidence. In law, it's impossible for a woman to rape, and no way would I be willing to pretend that they can.

JaniceBattersby · 18/01/2021 18:41

The local newspaper reporter probably feels the same as people here. I am one, and most of the reporters I come across are absolutely fed up with having to report cases in this way.

But it’s so incredibly difficult because your hands are tied by IPSO and editors who are usually middle aged men who have no idea of the nuances of the argument. And then if you get it ‘wrong’ according to the trans lobby you risk getting abused and doxxed all over Twitter by the TRAs and, honestly, most of us just don’t have the time or the mental energy to deal with the abuse.

I have reported many cases like this (I make sure I go to court when I see them on the list) and even with the knowledge I have about the subject, and my GC views, I find it so tricky to get to right and then persuade the editor why I am right. I often have to submit in an email a comprehensive list of reasons why I’ve written the work Transgender in the headline in case ipso come calling.

We are so, so busy and so incredibly underpaid that sometimes it’s just not worth the shit.

That said, the Metro’s headline is appalling and wouldn’t have got past a decent editor. I see they’ve changed it after the ‘feedback’

HecatesCats · 18/01/2021 18:39

Well rape as an offence is one that is defined in law as being carried out by men, are they changing the law too? They're surely not suggesting that transwomen aren't women?

"Under the 1956 Act, the statutory definition of rape is any act of non-consensual intercourse by a man with a person, and the victim can be either male or female."

www.cps.gov.uk/publication/cps-policy-prosecuting-cases-rape

Original poster
stumbledin · 18/01/2021 18:33

Yes to all points, and the fact that the court used female pronouns for the rapists. What did that do to the survivor of this crime of male violence? Angry

OP posts:
JellySlice · 18/01/2021 18:30

@OvaHere

I'm fairly sure his victim doesn't think she was raped by another woman.

Imagine going through that trauma then the courts and media twisting it this way. It's horrendous. Angry

I would like to know how she gave her evidence in court. Was she allowed to speak the truth describe her experience according to her perceptions, or did the court interfere with her evidence and compel her speech (as has happened to another woman physically assaulted by a TW)?
OvaHere · 18/01/2021 18:24

I'm fairly sure his victim doesn't think she was raped by another woman.

Imagine going through that trauma then the courts and media twisting it this way. It's horrendous. Angry

WootMoggie · 18/01/2021 18:20

As if to cause utmost offence, the Metro version has the web page entitled: "Trans woman jailed for 15 years for raping another woman".

It doesn't show up on the page itself, but appears as the caption if you link to the metro story from (e.g.) twitter and is also embedded in the URL:

metro.co.uk/2021/01/18/trans-woman-jailed-for-15-years-for-raping-another-woman-13921362/

Swipe left for the next trending thread