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

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

We already have victim anonymity, and I think in cases where revealing the defendant's identity compromises the victim's anonymity, the defendant remains anonymous also. In an ideal world, we'd have a press that didn't leap on celebrity accusations and a populace that truly accepted that an innocent verdict meant that and moved on (though with rape, that is always an issue for other reasons. Sigh).
It's a big intractable issue and I would never want a genuinely innocent person to have their life destroyed by a false accusation. But I want women to be safe, too, and being female I guess I tend to lean that way. Best of all would be a system of anonymity for all, but I can see the protests now if that was proposed (because those accused of paedophilia might be protected, and that would set off a huge swathe of teh stupid in our tabloids).