'Is the Jury Out?'
I have just caught this discussion on Radio 4.
Psychologist Dr Nina Burrowes asks whether we should scrap the use of juries in rape trials - and if the current system for trying serious sexual assaults needs reform.
The answer is 'yes'. The 700 year-old British criminal justice system does not support the cases of rape and assault victims as it should.
A rape victim argued that she had not felt supported and that the trial by jury system cannot judge fairly. This is because there is a naivety and lack of education about how rape and assault affects the victim. It is not just a case of the victim in the event and the information that describes the incident, it is much more.
The court case does not illustrate the impact that the incident has had on the victim because it is dealing with the event itself and does not illuminate any of the long term effects that the incident will have on the victim. The serving jury are often not sure of the evidence presented, or if the accused/accuser is not being truthful. Trial by jury, in these crimes, cannot be effective when the jury are not specialists and, most likely, that they have not ever come across this type of crime.
A good point, brought up, is that victims do not necessarily resist the violation as it is being carried out. Why? It's down to physical strength and knowing that an 8 stone woman would have no hope against a 13 stone man. It's down to not desiring to make the situation more violent than it already is.
Why are so many incidents unreported? Because fear of retribution or not thinking that reporting will lead to justice.
If you have not been a victim of rape/assault/sexual assault it would be impossibly difficult to imagine how this can impact a person's life. The long term effects psychologically and emotionally - and even physically. A trial by jury system cannot possibly work in the favour of the victim, fairly and justly.
We live in a modern society that condones a certain disposability, a throw away society, if you like.
Every thing is replaceable and replicable. We can have 'versions of', a fake or a copy of a brand, we can get a new TV, when the old one is past due, we update our tech (even though our current tech works sufficiently well). We get rid of the old toaster, not thinking to fix it. We can get a new one. We buy a new phone, when it's not the most up to date. We are consistently being pushed into new purchases. Upgrades.
This mentality trickles down into, and as far as, relationships - sadly.
Your current relationship has problems? Fix them? No, it's easier to go and find a new one.
This is the reality of how we live today. Disposable. Replaceable.
And yet, we cannot modernise a judicial system that does not support, protect and justify women who are victims of sexual crime.
The justice system fails victims of rape/sexual assault. It has the lowest conviction rate of any crime type.
The irony is astounding.
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