Yesterday in a speech given in London at the Conservative Women's Organisation conference, David Cameron called for tougher rape laws. Cameron said: "Studies have shown that as many as one in two young men believe there are some circumstances when it's okay to force a woman to have sex. To my mind, this is an example of moral collapse." Only one in twenty rape cases end in a conviction - this equates to a massive decline in the conviction rate over the last 30 years. It is also a sad fact that though we are supposedly becoming more civilised, the length of time served in prison has also dropped to around seven years on average.
There is however one other point that needs to be sorted out: And that is the naming of suspects before being found guilty. To be labelled a rapist, even if found innocent, can have a devastating effect on a person's life. And there have also been calls for those who have cried wolf to be named. At present the victim remains anonymous even if they are found to have been lying by the court.
2 comments:
I cannot get a grip on Cameron's mindset here. He seems to be on the same wavelength as the notorious "Blair Babes" who constantly shout that they want more rape convictions. Now that's wierd, and completly unacceptable. It seems to be a demand for guilty verdicts irrespective of evidence or jury views.
One might reasonably say that since there is a large majority of not-guilty verdicts, then it follows that most accusations cannot reasonably be sustained. Women are notoriously emotional and changeable, as bourne out by rates of neurosis in the female population.
Anon,
I think part of the blame belongs to the large number of women that have been caught lying about rape. They have damaged the ability of genuine victims to be believed.
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