Petition for ban on use of victim's past sexual history in rape cases

[MostlyHet]

petition here

There's a thread in feminism, but I thought I'd try to bring it to a wider audience. (Not my petition btw, but I think it's a very good idea).

[Debinaround]

Quick bump. 14500 signatures now. Seems to be slowing down a bit.

[PortiaCastis]

Deb yes can't be too carefu!, I do my shopping from my laptop and use a tablet. Keypads on phones and I do not get along.

[Debinaround]

Glad they have got back to you Portia. Will be doing the same over the weekend when I am off work and the kids are in bed.

I know what you mean about doing something. I feel the same. Have signed the petition and got DH to share on social media because I'm not on any and I am going to donate as soon as I am able to get on the laptop. (I'm on my phone most of the time and DH has told me never to put my bank details in it because I click on sites all the time with my fat fingers and will probably get robbed). I just want to do something.

[PortiaCastis]

I would like everyone to know that I e- mailed my MP voicing my extreme concerns about this debacle and I received a reply within an hour on Monday asking for my address which I gave.
This morning a letter arrived on HoC notepaper thanking me for my concerns and telling me my e-mail has been passed on to the Ministry of Justice and my MP will be in touch when he gets a response from them.
This along with donating and signing the petition feels like a tiny bit of help for the victim

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

Thanks to portia too for linking.

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

Oops I even checjed the OP and still didnt see the link! Thanks!

[PortiaCastis]

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/169433


Here it is

[venusinscorpio]

Sorry I would link directly but am on phone.

[venusinscorpio]

Link is in the first post of this thread.

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

I'm clearly being thick as I cannot find the petiton in Feminist Chat nor in Activism! Could someone link pleas?

[Debinaround]

Bump. Over 13000 signatures now.

[PortiaCastis]

This link is relevant

www.bath.ac.uk/ipr/our-publications/policy-briefs/court-response-to-rape.html

[Heybebe]

Bump

[legotits]

It will go boom hopefully and show we are ready to have this thrashed out properly.

No hiding or excuses.

[MostlyHet]

Bumping.

12600 now!

[Debinaround]

Bump. Over 12000 now.

[BeyondReasonablyDoubts]

Just ticked over 11,000 as I checked then

[PortiaCastis]

10,115 now

[MostlyHet]

Bump!

9781 signatures now - close to the 10,000 mark at which the government has to respond.

[venusinscorpio]

No JAPAB, I think we should get into specifics. Because sometimes it is that absurd. In the climbing frame case used as case law to justify the section 41 application in the Evans case, the detail of the alleged rape being in a climbing frame like earlier consensual sex had been was given as evidence which had a bearing on whether the later sex was consensual or at least to support reasonable doubt.

Why? Why should having consensual sex in a climbing frame at one time mean in any way that you are less likely to have been raped in one by the same person three weeks later or that your denial of consent is less credible? Perhaps it's the rapist that has a climbing frame fetish, rather than the victim?

[JAPAB]

BeyondReasonablyDoubts It is well known that men often ejaculate when raped. Would you allow former partners to testify that 'John' always hums Yankee Doodle when he does so? Does that prove he was a willing participant?

No as apart from anything else, humming a song at the end means nothing in terms of whether the accused could have reasonably believed him to be consenting during the during.

Can we not get into specific hypotheticals though. Like the defence of diminished responsibility, sometimes it is a legitimate and valid defence, and sometimes there are mickey-takers. I agreed as I've said that if this possible defence is being abused and legislation misinterpreted and so on, then this problem needs to be addressed of course.

[PortiaCastis]

This is from Womens Aid

www.womensaid.org.uk/chedevanstrial/

[PortiaCastis]

Bump

8323 now

[BeyondReasonablyDoubts]

Over 7000 :)

[Debinaround]

Bump. Over 6000 signatures now.