Ken Clark & what can we do

[Raptorace]

I'm just sitting here annoyed because there seems nothing I can to to change the system! Ok I've been NFA'd but I'm still really angry that the girl who could have been responsible fir me spending the best part of my life locked up for something I didn't do just gets away Scott free! It's shocking! I know I'm not the only one feeling this way, so I'm thinking there must be something we can do.
But the ken Clark situation just goes to prove the anyone who hasn't been through what we have just don't understand or arnt listening.
Ken Clark was trying to make a good point about different types of rape, sure he cocked up the wording a bit but the message was clear yet no one chose to here it especially the media, it's just easy to bash ken and miss an opportunity to help change the system to help genuinely raped women.
It saddened me this happened because if people/media won't listen to that then what chance do we ever have of moving towards prosecution of women falsley accusing men of rape? We dont... It seems no one would ever want to listen, and certainly no politition is going to dare raise the issue of rape ever again unless it's a move towards even more of a weight towards "victims" but that's only going to make false accusations more commen and even less frequently prosecuted.
Sorry to go on but I'm peeved off!
If anyone has any ideas how we can try and bring about change, I'm in.

[LS]

Hit the nail on the head there.
"They're not listening or don't understand."
They don't care, actually. Not until it happens to them, or affects them directly.

"easy to bash ken and miss an opportunity to help change the system"
They don't want change, as change means making evolutionary changes. They actually want to go back 200 years, not forward. Given their way, we'll have hanging, drawing and quartering on public squares.

"sure he cocked up the wording a bit"
Actually, I don't think he did. What he said made sense, but not to the harpies who want anyone so much as accused strung up from the nearest lamppost.

Sadly, change will never happen in this country. Evolution is a nasty word, change is only good if it means "for the worse" and when you have scumbag reporting from a scumbag media in what is a corrupt country, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for change.

The only way forward, as I see it, is when the numbers of those FA'd is sufficient enough for a collective groundswell/show of force. Sadly though, the very nature of the accusations against us, most want to shy away, not be put in the spotlight, so it'd never get off the ground.

[quinnb]

Have u taken steps to go from nfa to no crime. That's an important step to get her prosecuted. Nfa means you could have done it just not enough evidence to prosecute you.

[Raptorace]

Hi quinnb
No I haven't. I don't know how, can you advice please?
Thanks

[Bigsister]

It's not often I feel sorry for someone in politics, but I think the guy got a hard time, most people knew what he meant, they just dont want to acknowledge it. That's politics for ya.
I dont agree with halving their sentences if they are admitting they are guilty though, & that's in relation to any crime. If it's to do with cost or whatever, money shouldn't feature in court, it just adds to the problems of people pleading guilt when they aren't guilty, just because they are scared.
Makes a mockery of 'justice'
where is the justice in pleading guilty to somethng you haven't done? And it costs far more to have those innocent people in prison, than if they pled innocent & got found not guilty.
It's all in a muckin fuddle...

[quinnb]

I got a no crime simply through complaining. Goto station demand to see inspector which is your right and tell him or her why u feel it shoud be no crime.. in my case they sent it to auditor who no crimed it. They don't like doing it though as the government say they are disorting figures. Good luck. Also I agree it justice should not be about saving money but justice. Also has to contribute to the cuts to. We as a county need to save money.

[friday]

I missed all this when it was happening and only read an article about what he said, not what he actually said so I may have completely missed the point but if he said that not all rapes are equal then I would agree. Every rape is different and every victim is different. Date rape is not a lesser crime than stranger rape, rape with force is not necessarily more traumatic than one without a fight. Each different situation brings up different trauma. If you know the person then it can be hard to ever trust a man again, even if you know them. If it is a stranger rape then you may fear you could pass him in the street at any point. If there is violence then it is obvious why it is traumatic but if it is not you may always punish yourself for not fighting back. He admitted he thought date rape and statutory rape were the same but that in itself is ridiculous.

If the guy who raped me had been found guilty it would have made me sick to think that just because he was known to me and there was no violence it wasn't considered as bad as how someone else was raped (obviously if there is violence then there can be separate charges for that). It destroyed my life for many years and I still can't say I am over it. Obviously I have never been a victim of stranger rape so I can't compare the two but rape is rape. I don't think I can begin to explain what it feels like to be raped, to literally beg someone to stop but have your pleas ignored. Saying that, if I am going to call what happened recently rape (and I am still struggling to get my head around it) I would say that wasn't as bad as when I was 16 because I wasn't in fear at the time although not knowing what someone has done to you brings a whole load of different fears.

I agree that no two rapes are the same but to say one type of rape (stranger vs date rape) is worse than another is crazy. It depends on the circumstances and the victim in each case.

[Raptorace]

Hi Friday
I cant begin to imagine how bad your experience was. I believe Ken Clark was trying to ensure that bast***s like the guy who raped you serve very long sentences, where as lesser traumatic rapes the accused is encouraged to plead guilty with the availability of a shorter sentence. (bugger, I see kens problem with trying to describe rape catagories without offending anyone, think I've used the wrong words too!) let's say two drunk people go to be after a party and have sex, in the morning the girl can't remember consenting and crys rape. Currently the man involved faces the same sentencing guidelines as a guy that jumps out of the shadows and rapes a stranger while she screems. Can't be right, and I wonder if the severity of the punishment effects a juries thinking, ie they are more Likly to find not guilty if they have the slightest doubt because the sentence us so servere? Just my thoughts, overall I think this is such a sensitive subject no change will ever be made due to fear of offending people.

[friday]

I think the key thing in this is discretion. I don't think you can say date rape gets x years, stranger rape gets y and rape with someone unable to consent gets z. There is so much more to it than that. I always thought that was what the victim impact statement was for but maybe I got that completely wrong.