Woman charged with raping, assaulting and strangling other women

[IwantToRetire]

I was going to ask what's wrong with this news paper headline.

But in fact is correct if the word women and women were in quotes.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/transgender-woman-charged-raping-assaulting-10868886

Man rapes men.

Well that would be clearer!

What is so upsetting is that in law only a male can rape someone, so to have a headline that says "Woman charged with rape" is not just wrong but not legally correct.

"Forget it; it's Chinatown Bristol"

Well technically IIRC a woman could be charged with rape if they assist a man in raping a woman.

But I don't think that is what this is...

No - they would be charged with assisting rape

That's why the newspaper headline is so wrong.

In the UK, under the Sexual Offences Act, rape is defined as the penetration of the vagina, anus, or mouth of another person with a penis without their consent

Note "with a penis" ie rape can only be committed by a biological male.

Thanks to this article though I have learnt about operation Bluestone which, I learn, is a project to shift investigations of rape and serious sexual offences to be more suspect focused rather than scrutinising whether the victim is credible.

That sounds like a huge step forward for women (I'm not talking about this particular story but in general).

Apologies if I've been living under a rock, I've not heard of this operation

I can't believe it's taken this long... to go from "ah yeah did he, and what were you wearing?" To "wait a minute, what do his ex girlfriends say about him". At last

Edit to add - sorry this is off topic to the main topic of the article

#Notourcrimes

I hope the victims get the support and healing they need, how horrible.

I'm really lost for words. Accuracy is so important, it's a man for crying out loud!

It does men with gender identities no favours anyway as everyone is now just trained to read a headline like that and go - yeah obviously that wasn't a woman. And it never is.

This is a comment from Rape Crisis (England & Wales) in 2022

Operation Soteria Bluestone Year 1 report released
https://rapecrisis.org.uk/news/operation-soteria-bluestone-year-1-report-released/

Have tried to find later reports but cant. How strange.

Your reply sounds confident but I believe you are incorrect. It was definitely mentioned in the crime module of the GDL when I did that that could be situations where women could be charged specifically with rape as a result of assisting and I think it even came up on the exam that year. It may have been under the joint enterprise doctrine, although criminal law is not my area.

Anyway, I think this must just be a man as nobody else is mentioned.

"It is important to note that rape is a gendered offence in law because it requires penile penetration, (though women and girls have been convicted of rape on a joint enterprise basis) but victims can be of any gender."

https://mcarthursolicitors.co.uk/rape-sentencing-guidelines-in-the-uk/

But as I say, no suggestion of joint enterprise in the report.

It’s strange that the headline in the link is transgender woman, but then it changes to woman when you get on to the story. The Bridgwater Mercury have gone for man but when you click on the link it doesn’t work.

I just saw 'Bristol'. And went... Yeah...

The thing that never happens seems to never stop happening.

Ah I see man rapes other men isn’t quite as sensational is it

Third paragraph of that abysmally crafted piece:

"Avon and Somerset Police have said the defendant and victims in the case are adult transgender women."

'transgender women' is arguably wose than 'transwoman'. Still, confusion is the objective, isn't it? But it's not supposed to be like that in journalism. Their simple job is to say what's happening.

The Supreme Court ruling should have ended all this gibberish.
No-one can change sex.
The men who claim to be women have serious psychological problems and/or a porn addiction.
Men with a porn addiction are not women.

In the UK rape is defined as assault by a p3nis, but I think a woman who assists a rape can also be charged with rape.
Not that this is the case here. It's outrageous that male rapists are being described as women, and their crimes being reported as crimes by women.

Frpm CPS website:

Principal Offence of Rape (Section 1)

• Definition: The law defines rape as intentional penetration of a person's vagina, anus, or mouth with a penis without consent.
• Female Perpetrator: Because this requires a penis, a woman cannot be the direct perpetrator of this legal definition.
• Exception (Accomplice): If a woman assists a man to commit rape, she can be charged with the offence of rape as an accessory or accomplice.

ie a woman cannot be charged with the act of rape but can be as an accomplice, etc..

A woman can be charged with the offence of rape. It literally says in the CPS statement that you quoted that a woman can be charged with the offence of rape.

The quote below is also from the CPS

"A rape is when a person uses their penis without consent to penetrate the vagina, mouth, or anus of another person. Legally, a person without a penis cannot commit rape, but a female may be guilty of rape if they assist a male perpetrator in an attack."

You keep ignoring that the offence itself is by a male, the woman is charged with asisting etc..

That is what the words mean. A woman couldn't be charged without a man committing the actual crime, as the charge against her is that she assisted, ie your bold should have been

guilty of rape if they assist

So a woman never commits rape. The law says rape can only be committed by a male.

They are a rape assistant, not a rapist.