Women and children subjected to horrific attack & sentence not enough

[Grumpster21]

Am in tears reading about the horrific case of a mum with young children out for a walk this May and a vile, violent man attacked them & attempted to rape the mother & her 4 year old daughter.

I am so sad and angry on their behalf.

If I am reading the report correctly he receieved a 24 year extended sentence. comprising 16 years in custody followed by an eight-year licence period.

Williams must serve at least two-thirds of the custodial period in prison before applying for parole but it will be for the Parole Board to determine if he is safe to be released at that point.

So he could be out in 10 1/2 years. He's 43 now.For that sort of crime I want him behind bars for the full 24 years! In fact, it's debatable whether he should ever be allowed to walk the streets again.

I never thought I had the mindset of 'lock em up and throw away the key' but this reminded me so much of Lin Russell and her daughters. Mothers should be able to take their kids for a walk without fear of being raped, beaten or killed.

I really hope all the family in this case are getting the support they deserve, my heart breaks for what this evil man has put them through.

I read this and cried. The mother will never ever get over that. It makes me want to walk armed. He deserves to suffer for years and years of torture and then finally die. Even life in prison wouldn't be enough. In these cases I wish for vigilante justice. I am so angry, so disgusted, so sad, I can't even think straight.

How the woman and the husband could see him in court and not get arrested themselves is beyond me. Blessings to them. I hope they find some comfort.

What's you magic answer then if it doesn't involve services to help people plus more police?

Well to begin with I agreed with you that there should be good mental health and addiction services- but because people deserve these anyway, not because I think it would make a huge difference to violent crimes specifically against women and children. Because the vast vast majority of people with these issues do not commit vile crimes like this.

I would like to see misogyny treated like other hate crimes. It isn't treated or handled in the same way as something deemed to be for example racially aggravated or transphobic. Despite the fact that misogyny is the cause of the abuse.

I would like to see something done about the abysmal conviction rates for rape.

I would like to not only see more police but something done about the misogyny within the police, it's rotten to the core.

I would like to see misogyny discussed and taught about in schools.

I would like to see more done about the disgusting effects of the porn industry and the damage it is doing- the expectations and perceptions that young men have of women because of the porn industry are disturbing.

It's horrific. I too was disgusted at the sentance, it just doesn't seem long enough for such a sickening crime. The poor woman must've been beyond terrified, I'm gutted for them that they had to go through such a trauma.

What the hell kind of sicko he must be, it doesn't bear thinking about.

@LumosSolem

What's you magic answer then if it doesn't involve services to help people plus more police?

Well to begin with I agreed with you that there should be good mental health and addiction services- but because people deserve these anyway, not because I think it would make a huge difference to violent crimes specifically against women and children. Because the vast vast majority of people with these issues do not commit vile crimes like this.

I would like to see misogyny treated like other hate crimes. It isn't treated or handled in the same way as something deemed to be for example racially aggravated or transphobic. Despite the fact that misogyny is the cause of the abuse.

I would like to see something done about the abysmal conviction rates for rape.

I would like to not only see more police but something done about the misogyny within the police, it's rotten to the core.

I would like to see misogyny discussed and taught about in schools.

I would like to see more done about the disgusting effects of the porn industry and the damage it is doing- the expectations and perceptions that young men have of women because of the porn industry are disturbing.

I'm fine with all of those additional things are needed too.

My view is we have to recognise the fact that fucked up people got fucked up somehow - I don't believe people are born evil. I do think that mental health support and proper crime prevention would potentially help - most people commit low level crimes first, they progress. Many children show warning signs that could be tackled or monitored.

We have to work on preventing these hideous crimes not just wringing our hands afterwards. Especially rape and sexual assault which is very widespread and ruining so many lives.

*My view is we have to recognise the fact that fucked up people got fucked up somehow - I don't believe people are born evil. I do think that mental health support and proper crime prevention would potentially help - most people commit low level crimes first, they progress. Many children show warning signs that could be tackled or monitored.

We have to work on preventing these hideous crimes not just wringing our hands afterwards. Especially rape and sexual assault which is very widespread and ruining so many lives.*

I don't believe people are born evil either. I don't know what it is that makes a person do something as hideous as this. It's incomprehensible.

I do think misogyny is the root cause of VAWG and should be tackled as a priority- I think this would have the biggest impact in preventing rape and sexual assault. But that there can only be positive effects for everyone in society if people have access to good mental health support and addiction support.

This really is such a hideous crime and I'm so sad and angry for the victims. This individual really should never be allowed to be a danger to women and children again- it's mind boggling that we have a system that will allow him to be released.

I do think misogyny is the root cause of VAWG and should be tackled as a priority- I think this would have the biggest impact in preventing rape and sexual assault. Think this is vital but presumably would take decades to work through - we need to take a longer term view. It would be worth it if in fifty years our granddaughters lived in an entirely different world. Not sure if it is possible as VAWG is the visible bit of the iceberg only.

Sorry, when I say "Not sure if it is possible as VAWG is the visible bit of the iceberg only" I mean we would have to argue as to what actually constituted misogyny, people can all agree VAWG is unacceptable but so many things I see as misogyny are portrayed as banter/harmless etc.

@rrhuth it's depressing because looking around it is obvious that society doesn't care about misogyny. Not enough. Men who think they're one of the 'good ones' either participate in low level misogyny or just don't give a damn about things that affect women and girls- yet many want to declare themselves BLM allies or LGBTQ allies etc. They don't care about sexism or misogyny.

And then at the other end of the spectrum- those disgusting police officers in court today- they are supposed to uphold the law, to want to protect victims. What those two scumbags did was disgusting and I hope the book is thrown at them.

So sadly I think that things won't change. It's just an ongoing cycle. What should happen and what will happen are two different things.

but so many things I see as misogyny are portrayed as banter/harmless etc.

This is so spot on. I think it's being on here too- it's opened my eyes to so much and once you see it you can't unsee it.

So sadly I think that things won't change. I hope you are wrong

thanks for discussing