Jailed after reporting a sexual assault - can hardly believe this.

[KRIKRI]

Just saw this story about the Layla Ibrahim case.

www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/aug/12/layla-jailed-after-reporting-sexual-assault

She served 13 months for "falsely reporting a sexual assault," despite the police doctor who examined her after her assault testifying in Layla's defence, stating her injuries were consistent with a sexual assault.

AIBU to be absolutely shocked by this?

Right, will write to my local MP this week, and forward the message to friends. Have no idea how to start a street march, but will gladly try to organise one.

I read that in the paper this morning, absolutely awful and surely a miscarriage of justice. And even if she had inflicted those sorts of injuries on herself (which I don't think she had in this case) surely she'd be more in need of help than punishment!

Good grief.

I also assumed this would be in another country. So much for Keir Starmer's reassurances when the last high profile case of the victim being jailed hit the headlines.

I was shocked when I read this. Thought it was interesting that the family had previous dealings with the police when they harrassed her brother and it seemed like this was because he was mixed race in a town with very few mixed race kids. I think her sister was also beaten up but the police ignored the mum's complaints.

Awful, just awful for all of them.

I am just stunned

DCMP, I forgot to mention the piece on your blog looks fine. Also wanted to bump this up.

Edam - the thing is that Keir Starmer's reassurances were about charges being laid against women who reported that they'd been sexually assaulted and then withdrew charges. This frequently happens when the woman has been pressured or event threatened by the alleged perpetrator - often a partner or ex-partner.

This case is different though. Layla made a statement to the police that was attacked by two strangers. The evidence that wasn't lost or ignored pointed to her having suffered a sexual assault.

I was the police who pressured her to drop the complaint. When she refused, insisting she had been attacked and her injuries weren't self-inflicted, that charges were laid against her. She was convicted and sentenced to 3 years.

It's actually quite a different situation, but very depressingly seems to illustrate that when it comes to sexual assault, you are damned if you do (report it) and damned if you don't (or rather retract your statement because you are frightened of further attacks from the assailant.)

Still incredibly

What an utterly shocking case. To sentence a young woman with no previous convictions to a 3 year custodial term on a charge that is really nothing more than wasting police time is perverse. To do that to a pregnant woman who had to give birth under police custody and then raise her daughter in prison is just barbaric! It's immensely cruel. Even if Layla had made up her story and inflicted her own injuries, her 'crime' is fairly harmless in the grand scale of things.

What I can't understand is that it was proven in court that she had been sexually assaulted - how can anyone have believed that she had inflicted sexually related wounds on herself?

It shows a real misogyny at the heart of the justice system that a woman and a baby who have caused no harm to anyone in their lives end up in prison while violent, repeat male offenders with a string of charges for sexual assault, verbal assault, abuse and rape walk free out of court every day because of technicalities or intimidated witnesses etc.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/wicked-woman-jailed-over-false-rape-claim-2027238.html

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-10648129

Just thought I'd play devil's advocate, and assume the police and courts aren't complete idiots just because one news article out of the many that are available says she is innocent

the Indie piece includes the quote from the judge

"When internally examined there was nothing wrong with you. "

but the Guardian piece mentions:

'Forensic physician Dr Catherine White examined Layla's injuries ? swelling to the back of her head, abrasions on her cheek, injuries to her breasts, scratches on her knee, damage to the perineum and bruising on her hymen. Most of these injuries, White concluded, "would be very unusual to have been [self-inflicted]? particularly in someone without a history of such in the past or a severe mental health problem."'

"Dr Rosemary Swain, a GP and specialist in sexual assault medical examinations who examined Layla shortly after the incident, reached the same conclusion, forming the view that Layla had indeed been subjected to a sexual assault. Despite working for the police, Swain would later give evidence in Layla's defence at her trial."

(& also "A male blond pubic hair was found on Layla that Rosemary Swain said would be crucial evidence against her attackers. But the family later learned it had been destroyed in the forensics lab.")

WTF, im22. Give the rape apologists, victim blamers and "women lie about rape" a sounding board, why don't you.

Should I repeat this bit?

Even the police medical examiner said her injuries (internal bruising to the vagina included) was consistent with rape/sexual assault.

Vital pieces of evidence were overlooked. Vital evidence was destroyed. One of these was a blond pubic hair. Now. In my experience, dark haired people do NOT have blond pubic hair.

Her description of her attacker matched that of several other reports of attacks

We have, out of the 10%(ish) rapes reported, a 6% conviction rate. 6%. This is one reason why, even if (and it's unlikely) a woman lies about rape, jailing her makes no sense. We're not providing proper justice to victims of rape yet. THAT should be the priority. Hell, if they were going to charge and sentence her, it should have been anonymously, and with no more than community service. But I honestly don't believe she was lying.

Just a side note. She got a harsher sentence for "lying" about rape than my ex got for assaulting me whilst he held DS... And people say the legal system isn't biased...

im22 is also failing to take into account the vast numbers of men who lie about raping/sexual assaulting. Far more than women. After all, they have more reason to. I think that gives a more "balanced" view than the one he is so keen to portray.

I don't understand though.

If she wasn't lying there has been a miscarriage of justice.
If she was lying then to inflict those injuries on herself she must be suffering from a pretty severe mental illness.

If it's the second I don't see how the correct response is to jail her.

I don't understand why these cases are pursued so vigorously when cases which have an aspect of public safety are not pursued so vigorously.

I wonder if someone who is traumatised by sexual assault or is mentally ill makes a poor witness and so they know they are likely to get a "result"?

And why do the police and courts always say "this should not put women off reporting assaults".

You read the papers
You read this
You read about Warboys and Reid
You read about that woman who went to prison when she was threatened into retracting her complaint

What do they expect women to think?

Well exactly SQ. All the messages are there - yet we are supposed to just ignore them .

Unapologetically bumping this up. Has anyone else got any more feedback or heard about any campaigns going on?

Will be composing a letter to my MP later. BF has said she'll do the same. Haven't heard of any "proper" campaigns, but considering starting one. I'm not sure I have the brain power to do so, though.

Thought I would resurrect this thread as it's back in the news. Layla Ibrahim will be fighting to clear her name. I hadn't heard of this story at the time, but it's horrific what she went through after reporting her assault and I wish her all the best for a successful outcome to her fight:

www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/05/woman-accused-of-faking-rape-bids-to-clear-name-layla-ibrahim

The family were well known to local police (and residents!) and not for positive reasons. IMO in such a small community the investigation should have been handed off to another force who could be impartial.

It seems more like they were determined to prove her as a liar that to investigate properly

I had not heard of this case. It's horrific but sadly not surprising the attitude the police took. It is genuinely frightening.

Read about this just now, fucking awful. And they wonder why people don't report rape. Makes me so angry.

I've followed your blog, peanut.

Good luck Layla

Must be unimaginably hard to be a woman and of color in that town.

What is even worse is the court agreed with the police, despite the mountain of evidence.

What a damning testament to the state of humanity.

I read about this a while ago and I'm still baffled why the police thought she was making it up in the first place. I especially don't understand why the jury found her guilty.

Didn't the doctor who examined her say her injuries were consistent with rape and would have been impossible to inflict on herself?

I'm actually starting to think that her attacker has connections to someone in the police force. Surely they couldn't really have believed she lied?