People accused of sex crimes shouldn't be given anonymity

[GallicGarlic]

I am positively astonished that, as they face sex crime allegations, MPs say sex crime suspects deserve anonymity.

This will mean no e-fit pictures of suspects, no CCTV releases, no calls for other victims to come forward. AIBU to think this is jolly convenient for serial perpetrators? And to ask you to sign a petition?

109, are only those prosecuted, i'm sure the number of false rape claims is much higher

From all the 'innocent' rapists people know on here...
109 in five years, 22 a year.

So, whats the population of the uk? Cause i think all of those 22 false allogations per year have already had their friends post on this thread! What are the odds

Scoffasdyke I actually do not not know a woman who hasn't been sexually assaulted in some way.
I have myself many times.
Most women don't tell everyone they meet though. The people who have disclosed to me that they were raped are close friends. People you know who are victims may not tell you if they think if they think you won't believe them or will minimise it. Which you obviously do.

850pro Why are you sure of that?

The police "no criming" a report most certainly does not mean it was likely false. On a device so can't link but if you Google you will find lots on BBC and from Cps and police forces talking about massive problems with police doing this when they shouldn't. Especially with sex crimes. It is a well known and documented issue.

I am really sorry for all those who have been a victim of a sex crime, but two wronged can't make a right.
I take on board what I have heard about rapists saying they are falsely accused but there must be anonymity to protect the few that are falsely accused.
They could lose family, friends, job their whole life gone and not have done anything wrong.
The Old Crime Stoppers award was horrendous and having been on the receiving end and seen my dh resolved to a jibbering wreck for a considerable time. No the innocent shouldn't be named and shamed.
The Police made our lives hell and our poor dc hadn't a clue what was happening, they knew but couldn't understand.
After about 2 months the rapist was caught, no apology, not even a visit before this to say he was eliminated from their enquiry.
They delved into our sex life and asked me all manner of personal and horrible questions. They took his clothes, called his customers which resulted in him losing business.
He was with me a good 50 miles away from the crime when they said it had happened.
for all those affected, I can't imagine what you must have been through.

Just 850pro's 'feeling' I imagine, itsbetterthanabox. You know, the 'women lie about rape' one, that keeps cropping up on these threads without anyone actually saying the words.

Not all false allegations are prosecuted - sometime false allegations are made by children, or by people who are vulnerable/mentally ill. The cps doesn't see that it is in the public interest to prosecute these, and I agree with them on that.

Itsbetter, i'm not minimising anything, and I have no reason to disbelieve a friend or family member or colleague. Why is my genuine experience so hard to believe?

Potato, I'm sorry your DH's case was handled clumsily. I hope you've both recovered.

Of course, being investigated for any serious crime is horrible, intrusive, and liable to reduce the accused to a quivering wreck. I am not sure this is an argument for anonymity, though. For one thing, the investigation would still have to happen. Other people would still have to be interviewed, probably in an even more confusing & intrusive manner if names could not be given.

Rider, I didn't realise yours was still ongoing Thank you for posting on this thread, it must be tough! Hope you get the right outcome.

TheBlackRider

Why do you think an innocent person should be vilified, lose job, be a target for vigilantes, be treated in a way that makes them terribly ill, guilty until proved innocent.
Meh, I don't want to live in a world like that.

I'm not saying they shouldn't have questioned my dh, or took his clothes, checked alibis and things. They shouldn't be allowed to say what they are investigating though.
In this case it was a horrendous rape and the poor woman had my sympathy over everything and of course dh should have been questioned as there were similarities in his car and body size. The person who reported obviously thought this too.
This was a good 15 years ago now, dh got over it the poor victim won't have done and I realise this. However, it changed my dh, he isn't the same person he was and it is all down to the treatment he received.
No way would he have kept his job as he was teaching in schools then, as well as pupils in their own homes. His livelihood would have certainly gone if he had been named.

Just thinking about "not knowing any victims". I always worked with a fair few women, and being molested on the way into work wasn't that unusual. So these would be discussed at work in the morning. Then there would be a few known 'nuisances' around the workforce, who'd also be discussed. My knowledge of serious sexual assaults comes from close friends and people in therapy or women's groups.

So, I suppose if you weren't given to open, in-depth conversations with your women friends, and haven't much worked with women, you might not know of many instances.

I still think you would know of enough: if they've been framed in terms of 'something happening' or a 'bad experience' kind of thing, you would gloss over them if you preferred. That's generally why people use those kinds of phrases, to give their listener a chance to ask or ignore.

I have many full and frank discussions with many women on a daily basis. I work with more women than men. I wouldn't ignore any 'bad experience' type conversations.
I still can't say that I know anyone who's been molested sexually. I know several people who have been the victims of violent crimes, including a very recent murder

I dont have 'bad experience' conversations. I shut down. I have even talked about it as if it were consensual. Thats how i dealt straight away the next morning, it was consensual, no biggie.

If you knew me, unless you were my dh or one of the men, you wouldnt know.

(And you cant be my dh, he is snoring rather loudly )

Some women won't tell you ScOff, even when discussing the subject. Some women feel ashamed.

However, reliable research suggests that the number of women suffering sexual abuse, assault and rape during their lifetime (but particularly during the teenage years) is substantial.

I think in this case the research should taken as more reliable than your anecdotal chats with the women you know.

ScOff, do you think that suspects in the murder investigation of the person you know should have anonymity?

No, and he's already in cusody pending trial ( has pleaded not guilty despite making a confession).
I'm not in favour of anonymity for rapists either! The justice system must be open and transparent, secret courts would be to detrimental to society and lead to unaccountability

I agree, ScOff. Open and transparent.

Glad they've got him - sorry he's pleaded not guilty, because it means the family of the victim will have to go through the stress of a trial.

A murder happened on my road (and we live in a lovely rural village) - a boyfriend killing his ex-girlfriend. it was awful. He confessed and handed himself in, but then pleaded not guilty. It was awful to see her family going through hell. He was found guilty though.