Anonymity and rape

[la_marquise]

Am I the only person who is deeply concerned by the proposal our new masters have put forward to reintroduce the policy of anonymity for people accused of rape? This used to be the case and it was changed because it can be damaging to conviction rates -- when a name is given, other victims do on occasion come forward, having previously not done so out of fear, uncertainty and conviction that the system is against them. It's estimated that rape is greatly under-reported in this country already, and this move will not help that. It won't help the conviction rate, either, and that is shockingly low. People accused of other crimes are named unless they're under-age. This move is all about protecting men and that's all. It doesn't help deal with the crime, and it panders to one of the most pernicious of the rape myths, the false accusation. The level of false rape claims is no higher than false accusations of all other crimes. But whereas the latter are barely notice din the press -- as are the bulk of rape accusations -- false rape claims are almost guaranteed to be splashed all over the news. What this move tells us is that male reputation is considered to be far more important by our new regime than female safety.
Details of the new proposal are here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8695367.stm
I suggest anyone who wants to question my remarks on rape conviction rates and false accusation rates takes a quick look through the online archives of a respectable newspaper or reads one of the several excellent recent books on women and our modern raunch culture. (You could start here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/mar/20/rape-convictions-lady-stern-cps)

Comments

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

I'd prefer to see a one-size-fits-all approach to crime reporting - as you say, false accusation convictions are made much more of, as far as I can see, than rape convictions. And I agree with Ms C that the legal deterrent appears virtually non-existent.

False claims that make it to court are relatively rare, again as far as I can see, although there are women who use it as private weapon of choice. We have one in town - four false allegations so far, including Trevor - most people don't believe her, since she cries rape or sexual assault, then retracts, and is known to be a pathological liar (one of our many), but it's caused a hell of a lot of trouble even without going to court.

But there are men who make consistent false claims of assault and God knows what, and relatively little mention is made of this.