The three boys accused of taking it in turns to rape a girl have been found not guilty

[Lougle]

The three boys accused of taking it in turns to rape a girl have been found not guilty on all counts despite some of the incident being filmed. How could that be? That poor girl. I believe in justice, I wasn't in court. I just can't understand it though.

Six the musical has some really good songs about the sexualised treatment of women.

Yes I know, I was agreeing.

Kids having sex in public is ok?

How do we reverse trends in some parts of the country though? I was at the beach today with my 16 year old DD. Some lads turned up, about 16-18, being silly. I didn't once worry for either of our safety, despite knowing how isolated the beach is - the nearest populated area is about ½ mile away. Yet in some areas, even catching a tram in the middle of the town with 12-14 year olds is risky.

The didn’t scream thing is so bad. If anyone has been in a threatening situation as a victim of a crime they probably know screaming isn’t always what happens.

Dr Jessica taylor and Dr Charlotte proud man have written about alternatives to juries in rape cases
Such as having the case heard by people who are actually informed . Like social workers, police, women's aid etc
Not Barbara... jury member .. baptist..60 years old.. married at 18.
She will not have the knowledge about modern day dating and will believe outdated rape myth from her day

An adult being present discourages teens.

Two teen girls on their own would have been seen as vulnerable and a target (if they have violence in mind).

I think there needs to be self-defence classes for girls and women. Should be part of school.

Jury's should absolutely not be used in these kind of cases.
One of the oldest tricks in the book is to use a female for the defense as stupid is easily convinced that a woman wouldn't defend this abhorrent act. Newsflash, if they're being paid, they will.

The most common response to rape is ‘freeze’ not fight or flight and certainly not scream. That’s true for adult women and even more so for children. No 12 year old will scream or struggle. The defence barristers comments propagating the myth it’s only rape if you screamed and shouted no and struggled is appalling.

Anyone who seriously believes a 12 year old child would ‘consent’ to sex with three boys in these circumstances needs educating.

You have high expectations for how a 13 year old girl should behave when she watches her friend be dragged into the bushes by 3 boys and gang raped. Do you not think she may have been a bit shocked and confused about what the hell was happening?

What mitigating factors are there for the girl who was AGED 12!!!

British and northern sexism strikes again.

Fwiw when I was that age in the shitty city of Manchester and beginnnig to pick up on the amount of violence meted out to girls and how it was all blamed on them regardless, it made me seriously depressed and start suicidal ideation. Watch your daughters if you live in that area. The constant excuses for boys and men affects all girls and women. It also empowers and encourages rape and harassment from boys.

There must be some way of protesting this??

It’s entirely possible, even now, that some 12 and 13 year olds may not have known what the hell was happening.

Believing in our justice system is very naieve. It doesn't work for many people.

How about withdrawing all girls from school for the day because they are obviously not safe in schools with boys or travelling anywjeee near boys? I’d be on board with that if I was still anywhere near that shitty sexist dump of a city.

It is hardly unique to Manchester.

Unfortunately there can’t be a retrial after a not guilty verdict unless material new evidence comes to light that was not available at the time of the original trial.

That poor girl and her family - their lives are changed beyond belief…what sort of world do we live in - she wore a short skirt, she invited the slap on her a£)e….she had her t!ts hanging out, she wanted me to feel them…this is all sounds like the 90’s rhetoric, I thought we were past this - and why are 12/13/14 year olds even wanting or thinking about taking turns on one girl…where has society gone so wrong.

We have to better educate kids of these ages about consent, that it has to be asked and given for each act, for each person involved. Ridiculous that it has to be spelt out and explicitly taught, but it needs to be. There are even adults who don’t understand consent. A “yes” spoken on the tram earlier is not a blanket “yes” to absolutely any activity that follows. We might be embarrassed to have these conversations with our teens and preteens but it’s crucial.

Where does it say she was dragged?

This verdict is an indictment of how society views girls and women as disposable sex objects.

Jurors should be screened for porn usage. We can’t trust trial by jury (or judge) for rape and sexual assault when filmed rape is being used as a masturbation tool by such a high proportion of the population.

In closing speeches from the defence, Rachel Shenton, who represented the now 16-year-old said consent was 'more nuanced' than 'please may I do this to you? Yes'. She added: "It starts with banter, and flirting, with someone walking into bushes. They are not middle aged people, these are adolescents.

This was a 13 year old girl. By default she did not consent, even if she did say "yes".

Some of the comments on this thread explain the verdict. People just don't understand sexual assault, consent, or the law.

The point about the age of consent is that 12 and 13 year old girls cannot give consent.

This is horrific.

This is why replacing jury trials with panels of judges may actually be a good idea.

Quite possible that their mothers are of the "there's no way that my little angel ever did anything wrong" approach to parenting.