Teh One Who Knocks
08-26-2014, 11:34 AM
By Anthony Bond - The Mirror
http://i.imgur.com/qpKkptC.jpg
A woman judge has today been heavily criticised after she claimed the rape conviction rate would not improve until women stop drinking so heavily.
Judge Mary Jane Mowat said she expected to be "pilloried" for the comments which came as she retired after 18 years sitting as a circuit judge.
During the controversial interview, she criticised rape victims for drinking too much and being unable to clearly recall what had happened to them.
Her views have been blasted as being "outrageous", "misguided" and "dangerous."
However, she claimed the national rape conviction rate after trial of 60 per cent was partly "inevitable" due to the lack of corroborative evidence.
Locally, at Oxford, where she sat until retirement earlier this month, just 24 per cent of rape trials resulted in conviction.
"It is an inevitable fact of it being one person's word against another and the burden of proof being that you have to be sure before you convict," said the 66-year-old.
"I will also say and I will be pilloried for saying so, but the rape conviction statistics will not improve until women stop getting so drunk.
"I'm not saying it's right to rape a drunken woman, I'm not saying for a moment that it's allowable to take advantage of a drunken woman.
"But a jury in a position where they've got a woman who says 'I was absolutely off my head, I can't really remember what I was doing, I can't remember what I said, I can't remember if I consented or not but I know I wouldn't have done'. I mean when a jury is faced with something like that, how are they supposed to react?"
Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre service manager Natalie Brook said rape convictions would improve when society stopped blaming women.
"Suggesting that rape conviction statistics will not improve until women stop getting so drunk is an outrageous, misguided and frankly dangerous statement to make," she said.
"Rape convictions will improve when those who perpetrate it, who are disproportionately male stop raping and when society stops blaming women for somehow being complicit in this act of violence.
"Rape is 100 per cent the fault of the perpetrator and suggesting otherwise serves only to feed myths that do nothing other than deter women from reporting this crime or accessing the support they need.
"Eighty five thousand women are raped every year in England and Wales and the majority of rapes are committed by partners.
"Yet only 15 per cent of those who experience rape will report to the police. With victim-blaming attitudes like those displayed by Judge Mowat it is no surprise that conviction rates remain so low."
http://i.imgur.com/qpKkptC.jpg
A woman judge has today been heavily criticised after she claimed the rape conviction rate would not improve until women stop drinking so heavily.
Judge Mary Jane Mowat said she expected to be "pilloried" for the comments which came as she retired after 18 years sitting as a circuit judge.
During the controversial interview, she criticised rape victims for drinking too much and being unable to clearly recall what had happened to them.
Her views have been blasted as being "outrageous", "misguided" and "dangerous."
However, she claimed the national rape conviction rate after trial of 60 per cent was partly "inevitable" due to the lack of corroborative evidence.
Locally, at Oxford, where she sat until retirement earlier this month, just 24 per cent of rape trials resulted in conviction.
"It is an inevitable fact of it being one person's word against another and the burden of proof being that you have to be sure before you convict," said the 66-year-old.
"I will also say and I will be pilloried for saying so, but the rape conviction statistics will not improve until women stop getting so drunk.
"I'm not saying it's right to rape a drunken woman, I'm not saying for a moment that it's allowable to take advantage of a drunken woman.
"But a jury in a position where they've got a woman who says 'I was absolutely off my head, I can't really remember what I was doing, I can't remember what I said, I can't remember if I consented or not but I know I wouldn't have done'. I mean when a jury is faced with something like that, how are they supposed to react?"
Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre service manager Natalie Brook said rape convictions would improve when society stopped blaming women.
"Suggesting that rape conviction statistics will not improve until women stop getting so drunk is an outrageous, misguided and frankly dangerous statement to make," she said.
"Rape convictions will improve when those who perpetrate it, who are disproportionately male stop raping and when society stops blaming women for somehow being complicit in this act of violence.
"Rape is 100 per cent the fault of the perpetrator and suggesting otherwise serves only to feed myths that do nothing other than deter women from reporting this crime or accessing the support they need.
"Eighty five thousand women are raped every year in England and Wales and the majority of rapes are committed by partners.
"Yet only 15 per cent of those who experience rape will report to the police. With victim-blaming attitudes like those displayed by Judge Mowat it is no surprise that conviction rates remain so low."