Self ID plan ‘will hit rape convictions’ - Times Scotland article

[ArabellaScott]

'Lesley Warrender, a retired chief inspector who specialised in dealing with serious sexual offences ... pointed out only 130 out of 2,343 crimes of rape and attempted rape reported to police in 2019-20 resulted in a conviction. She said “the last thing” victims needed was a further obstacle to reporting a crime.'

And:

'Dr Shonagh Dillon, who runs a domestic abuse charity, said hearing all court officials referring to the man who raped them as “she” and being forced to use this language could constitute “a state-sanctioned abusive act, prioritising pronouns over the rights of female victims”.'

These are two experienced women who deal with these issues at the coalface. It's stark when you see it laid out like that.

I will attempt a sharetoken but never quite managed it yet:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/7827104e-70d5-11ec-9b05-685948f9304d?shareToken=9da84b345faf1b552a5c3956670a01

Thanks for link. However, share token not working.

Ah, sorry. I have never got the hang of them! Here's a link to the article:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/self-id-plan-will-hit-rape-convictions-3v8tlnjxj

Another point I've seen raised, which strikes me as a real one, is would you report someone if you knew that a successful prosecution would mean him being locked up with vulnerable women?

Someone on Twitter relayed a story of someone who couldn't bring herself to report an assault over the Christmas period because of that.

'pointed out only 130 out of 2,343 crimes of rape and attempted rape reported to police in 2019-20 resulted in a conviction'

Stark numbers indeed. And we keep being told that if 'something happens, you can just report it!'

@NecessaryScene I hadn't even realised that aspect of it - that's awful.