The New Sex Offences Act

[diana_holbourn]

Posted on old forum on Tuesday, January 06, 2004

This government website gives information about the new sex offences bill which it says should be implemented around May 2004.
Sexual Offences Bill frequently asked questions
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/justice/sente...esbill/faq.html

Also, there's more information from the Guardian:
http://society.guardian.co.uk/crimeandpuni...,843186,00.html

[Survivor]

A bill of rights for victims sounds promising but does not mention what this actually constitutes. More support for vulnerable victims seems a bit ambiguous, after reading the Dispatches report, it seems that alot of the more vulnerable victims, if their case makes it to court are torn to shreds which, I have been warned I will probably be if the DPP decides to prosecute (I have discovered the rape law in N Ireland is even more archaic than in England).
Areas which I agree should be looked at more are things like access to medical records and the tendency for the defence to blacken the victims character by implying previous "sluttish" behaviour.
Apparently over here the Department of Public Prosecution will not prosecute unless they are confident of winning the case and it all comes down to money & expenses the police have told me.
Until it happened to me I shamefully confess I had no real knowledge. Now it seems the more I read, the more futile it all seems & I should just drop the bloody case & try & move on with my life.
Unless the changes are radical and implement the
proposals I read in the Dispatches article, I don't think the rate of convictions will rise too much and rape will continue to appear as an un-punishable crime!

[Snoopyseed]

Hello,
Sorry for just posting, I?m not too sure of the ins and outs of your situation, but I can tell you as a rape survivor that runs a site for other survivors that you are quite welcome to join, please email me for info.

I regret not going to court, and convicting my rapist, and for that I worry that he will do it again, even though he may not be convicted it will help you to heal from the rape by having your day in court, in years to come, looking back knowing that you stood up to the monster may stop you from becoming ill later on in life, also at the end of the day, mud sticks, even if he does get off, people will know what he has been accused of and if the person is ever caught again, doing the same crime, they will be punished for that and the first one, so it is always, always worth going to court over, even if its just to stick two fingers up at him, don?t show him you are afraid, it is tough in court I know, but there are also many many people out there that will help and support you. If you need extra support speak to your GP and tell them you need more support as there are services out there that you may not know exists. Good luck.
Snoopy (I hope I caught the drift of the whole conversation and I?m not getting my wires crossed&#33