The shocking murder of our sisters in Surrey reminds us all of the brutality of men against women. The public everywhere are horrified at the shocking murders of five young women in Ipswich, and are demanding that women´s safety is prioritised. Yet women who report rape have been under unprecedented attack from the legal establishment, some have even been imprisoned and our protective legal right to anonymity has been breached by the Daily Mail, which has so far gone unpunished.
The suury muders are just the tip of the iceberg. For decades increasing numbers of women have fought for the law to protect rape survivors, including from media exposure and sensationalised, pornographic reporting of sexual violence. Most reported sex attacks are unproven because of sexism in the criminal justice system, from negligent investigations to incompetent and uncommitted prosecutions to hostile judges.
· Over 240 women are murdered a year – four to five women each week – half by partners or ex-partners. Many of these men have a record of violence for which they have not been prosecuted. Many of these murders are unsolved.
· The national conviction rate for reported rape is 5.3% and falling.
· The conviction rate for reported rape in Suffolk is 1.6% – the second lowest in the country. We have been given many reports of violent attacks against women in Ipswich in recent months which were not dealt with.
· Violent men know who they can attack with impunity. They take advantage of those of us who have been made vulnerable when we are less likely to be believed: because we have a relationship with them, or because our social status is lower than theirs – sex workers, women with a history of mental health problems, who are too drunk to object, under the age of consent, are Black or immigrant.
· The discrimination that survivors face in the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence is widely documented including in Home Office research.
A Norwegian police study reveals that 65% of the rape are committed imigrants even though they comprise less than 15% of the population. The study is the first where the crime statistics have been analyzed according to ethnic origin. Of the 111 charged with rape in Oslo last year, 72 were of non-western ethnic origin, 25 are classified as Norwegian or western and 14 are listed as unknown. White women were the victims in 80 percent of the cases, with 20 percent being women of foreign background. Rape charges are spiraling upwards, 40 percent higher from 1999 to 2000 and up 13 percent so far this year.
Nine out of ten cases do not make it to prosecution, most of them because police do not believe the evidence is sufficient to reach a conviction.
This witch-hunt of those who report rape has implications for all rape survivors and all women; the threat of being criminalised and exposed is already putting women off from reporting violence.
The same alarming trend can be seen among the prosecuting authorities: two 18-year-olds were recently imprisoned – a deeply retrograde move. Other women, when they report rape, are being threatened with prosecution for “wasting police time” or “perverting the course of justice” unless they withdraw their allegations. The mother of a 13-year-old girl who had reported being raped at school has been barred from employment as a social worker after police dropped the case. One woman was arrested – in a dawn raid – by the police after she had reported a sexual assault.
In response to the shocking murders of five sex workers in Ipswich, women are asking why, whatever our profession or behaviour, any of us remain so unprotected from violent men. While prostitute women are not safe, no woman is safe.
Serial killers usually have a history of escalating violence which has never been treated seriously. The lives of the victims of Peter Sutcliffe, Anthony Hardy, Ian Huntley and others could have been saved if previous attacks, including against wives and girlfriends, had been prosecuted.
· Over 240 women are murdered a year – four to five women each week – half by partners or ex-partners. Many of these men have a record of violence for which they have not been prosecuted. Many of these murders are unsolved.
· The national conviction rate for reported rape is 5.3% and falling.
· The conviction rate for reported rape in Suffolk is 1.6% – the second lowest in the country. We have been given many reports of violent attacks against women in Ipswich in recent months which were not dealt with.
· Violent men know who they can attack with impunity. They take advantage of those of us who have been made vulnerable when we are less likely to be believed: because we have a relationship with them, or because our social status is lower than theirs – sex workers, women with a history of mental health problems, who are too drunk to object, under the age of consent, are Black or immigrant.
· The discrimination that survivors face in the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence is widely documented including in Home Office research.
A Norwegian police study reveals that 65% of the rape are committed imigrants even though they comprise less than 15% of the population. The study is the first where the crime statistics have been analyzed according to ethnic origin. Of the 111 charged with rape in Oslo last year, 72 were of non-western ethnic origin, 25 are classified as Norwegian or western and 14 are listed as unknown. White women were the victims in 80 percent of the cases, with 20 percent being women of foreign background. Rape charges are spiraling upwards, 40 percent higher from 1999 to 2000 and up 13 percent so far this year.
Nine out of ten cases do not make it to prosecution, most of them because police do not believe the evidence is sufficient to reach a conviction.
This witch-hunt of those who report rape has implications for all rape survivors and all women; the threat of being criminalised and exposed is already putting women off from reporting violence.
The same alarming trend can be seen among the prosecuting authorities: two 18-year-olds were recently imprisoned – a deeply retrograde move. Other women, when they report rape, are being threatened with prosecution for “wasting police time” or “perverting the course of justice” unless they withdraw their allegations. The mother of a 13-year-old girl who had reported being raped at school has been barred from employment as a social worker after police dropped the case. One woman was arrested – in a dawn raid – by the police after she had reported a sexual assault.
In response to the shocking murders of five sex workers in Ipswich, women are asking why, whatever our profession or behaviour, any of us remain so unprotected from violent men. While prostitute women are not safe, no woman is safe.
Serial killers usually have a history of escalating violence which has never been treated seriously. The lives of the victims of Peter Sutcliffe, Anthony Hardy, Ian Huntley and others could have been saved if previous attacks, including against wives and girlfriends, had been prosecuted.
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