If you read my last post you will know that I am going to try my hand at writing well researched, evidence-based pieces on gender-equality issues. This is a bit of an experiment. I have a feeling that my career and education should have prepared me well for this kind of work, and that I should be at least reasonable at it. On the other hand the writing will be certainly not be as passionate as the personal posts I have written so far, and so there's a danger it will end up being incredibly dull. At this stage I'm really not sure which way it's going to go.
The topic I have picked is the issue of rape anonymity. When the Final Coalition Agreement was published last month, 9 words in particular caused a massive reaction from women's groups across the country - "We will extend anonymity in rape cases to defendants". As this was largely a surprise (neither the Conservative nor Lib Dem manifestos had contained this pledge) it received a large amount of media coverage. Since then David Cameron has partially backtracked, saying in his first Prime Minister's Questions that he had sat in a Home Affairs Committee and that "We came to the conclusion that there was a case for saying that between arrest and charge there was a case for anonymity". Fiona Mactaggart tabled an Early Day Motion calling on the government to withdraw it's proposal, and you can sign an online petition here to drop the proposal.
As I read various articles quoting statistics (e.g. 6% of reported cases end in conviction) I found myself questioning and wanting to know more. Is that 6% of all cases, or just those reported to police, or those that police designate as a crime? How does this compare to other crimes? How does the rate of false allegation compare from one crime to another? What are the arguments for granting anonymity to the defendant and why propose it now in a coalition agreement? Was there any supporting data?
And so it has become my first evidence-based project. I am now at the stage of being completely inundated with data, reports and surveys on a subject which 2 weeks ago I knew very little about. It is absolutely fascinating and I hope that at some point soon I will emerge from the woods in a position to put together a coherent blogpost on the topic. In the meantime, if anyone has anything they think I should particularly consider on this topic, please let me know and I will add it to the mix.
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World Sex Project TV opportunity
12 hours ago
"Is that 6% of all cases, or just those reported to police, or those that police designate as a crime? How does this compare to other crimes? How does the rate of false allegation compare from one crime to another? What are the arguments for granting anonymity to the defendant and why propose it now in a coalition agreement? Was there any supporting data?"
ReplyDeleteYou might start at False Rape Society http://falserapesociety.blogspot.com? It's run by a lawyer in the US, but the scope of the blog is the UK and Australia also. You can ask the blogger himself for help with this research and with wading through the data. Of course he is an advocate for victims of false rape accusations, so remember that, but he does have some posts, as I remember, about the bad effects of false rape accusations on rape victims too. He is an advocate, so subject what he offers to the normal scepticism. he will appreciate that, and will probably answer questions about his material.
Hi Jess! Very pleased to find a new feminist blogger, especially a feminist parent blogger! I found you via a comment you left on my post on The F Word, in case you were wondering. ;o) I was wondering if you'd mind me adding you to the blogroll "Feminist Parents" on one of my blogs, Mothers For Women's Lib? :o)
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