Engendering Justice - from Policy to Practice - The Fawcett Society

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Chapter Four:Women Need Justice - Women as Victims of CrimeThis is often used as a weapon by the defence with noalternative explanation being provided to the jury. Dates andtimes are especially an issue for trafficked women and anywoman who has had their access to news sources, whichprovide a reference point, restricted.In rape cases, a jury is frequently required to considerwhether a complainant consented and to evaluatethe reasonableness of the defendant’s belief that thecomplainant had consented. The definition of consentprovided under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 requires thatan individual must have the freedom and the capacity tomake a choice. No further guidance is currently provided.Recent research using mock jurors revealed that there wasno consensus on the meaning of consent, particularly inrelation to the level of inebriation which may be required.Worryingly, some participants indicated that they wouldrequire some evidence of resistance even when thecomplainant was heavily intoxicated. 173 It is also unclearas to the extent to which defendants pleading a consentdefence, are being tested, as the law requires, on the stepsthey took to ensure consent was given.The decision of the Court of Appeal in R v Bree consideredthe line to be drawn between consensual sex and rapewhere a complainant is heavily intoxicated. The Court ofAppeal found that the jury should have been given someassistance with “the meaning of ‘capacity’ . . . where thecomplainant was affected by her own voluntarily inducedintoxication and also whether, and to what extent theycould take that into account in deciding whether she hadconsented.” 174 Given the stereotypes and moral judgmentswhich surround this issue, there is a need for clear guidanceand clarity as to the instruction which should be given tojurors, in rape cases involving intoxication.In 2006, the Office for Criminal Justice Reform publisheda report proposing the introduction of expert evidence inrape cases to educate juries about the potential effects oftrauma and to assist in dispelling some of the myths andstereotypes which surround rape. Various arguments havebeen made as to whether expert testimony is appropriate.Concerns have been raised that the use of expert testimonywould lead to a ‘battle of experts’ or may result in anotherbarrier to reporting for those women who do not feel theymeet the victim ‘profile’. However, a study with over 200mock jurors indicated that judicial instruction / experttestimony which provided explanation of behaviour resultedin participants being less likely to assume fabrication by thevictim. 175The Commission welcomes the current work by theGovernment to explore commonly held myths and toconsider appropriate judicial instruction. The recognition bythe Courts of this is also encouraging, such as the Courtof Appeal decision, R v Doody, in October 2008, when theCourt ruled that judges in rape trials can give instruction tojurors that a delay in making a rape allegation, rather thanindicating a false complaint, can arise from shame andguilt. 176 There should be greater awareness of this decisionand the Commission recommends that the application andinterpretation of this decision is closely monitored. In lightof the results of this monitoring, the Government may needto consider further the use of expert testimony, particularlyin relation to issues outside the scope of the decision.There is a great deal of expertise within this sector whichcould be utilised to provide independent expert evidence tojuries and instil greater confidence of victims in the system.Evidence could be required by the court, rather than byeither side, as is possible in childcare cases, which wouldalleviate the risk of a battle of experts developing.I’d like the CPS to stop making assumptions about whata jury would think. I’d like juries to be educated that mostwomen who are raped know their perpetrators, that thereis a big difference between submitting because you’re soterrified that you’ll do anything to get out of there alive andconsent.Female rape victim, Questionnaire Response, January2009Page 60
He pleaded innocent, so I prepared myself to go to court...However the day before the court date he changed hisplea to guilty. I did not have to testify. Part of me feelscheated as that meant I never had an opportunity to tellthe jury how it had hurt me, or to explain exactly how I feltand what this had done to me. I attended the sentencingand was horrified by the lack of fact checking. He wastreated as a juvenile because he said he was under 18 buthe had no ID as he was an illegal immigrant. ..I listened tohis sob story about not being able to understand subtledating signals because he was isolated and uneducated.There was no date! He jumped on me as I walked downthe street… My signals were not subtle, I bit and kickedand scratched him till he bled, but he just laughed at me.He grinned at me in the court... He got 4 years and served1 and a half. I live with it to this day.Female rape victim, Questionnaire Response, January2009It is important that women also receive support if thedefendant pleads guilty and after the court process hasconcluded. However, evidence suggests this aspect ofsupport is often overlooked. The time after a trial can be anextremely distressing time for victims, particularly if there isan acquittal:When the verdict came back two days later of not guiltyit was just some man on the phone who called to tell me.He did say to me that the Judge was disappointed withthe verdict, which was probably helpful to me…I wishedsomeone trained in counselling had called to tell me thenews and made me feel better. 177The Commission is disappointed that the Government hasstill not implemented important provisions of the DomesticViolence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 which would provideadditional support for women, particularly in cases ofacquittal. Section 12 of the Act, which extends the useof restraining orders to those convicted of any offence,and also to those who are acquitted for any offence, andSection 9 which introduces domestic homicide reviews,should be implemented as a priority. Section 12 has thepotential to greatly increase the protection of victims aftercourt and the Commission supports the recommendationof the Early Evaluation of the Act, that it be implementedas soon as possible. 178 This protection should also beextended to cover all violence against women offenceswhere the parties know one another.Jacky Fleming ©Page 61
Page 1 and 2:
Engendering Justice- from Policy to
Page 3 and 4:
ContentsForeword 5Executive Summary
Page 5 and 6:
ForewordFor the past five years, Fa
Page 7 and 8:
Executive SummarySince 2003, Fawcet
Page 10 and 11: Executive Summary continuedon domes
Page 12 and 13: Executive Summary continuedFemale O
Page 14 and 15: Chapter One: Continued.Methodology
Page 16 and 17: The Five Years of the CommissionCom
Page 18 and 19: Chapter Two:Introduction - From Pol
Page 20 and 21: Chapter Three:Women and Justice - M
Page 23 and 24: [A woman] had admitted to an offenc
Page 25 and 26: Figure 3: Female Reoffending Rate b
Page 27 and 28: writing the Government had undertak
Page 29 and 30: equirement could be used to refer w
Page 31 and 32: given current funding allocations a
Page 33 and 34: I feel that women with severe menta
Page 35 and 36: Good Practice Example: Birth Compan
Page 37 and 38: Female offenders serving indetermin
Page 39 and 40: The Commission recommends that if p
Page 41 and 42: Moving TowardsCommunity ProvisionTh
Page 43 and 44: which can be developed in conjuncti
Page 45 and 46: Chapter Four:Women Need Justice - W
Page 47 and 48: that VAW is a relevant issue for ev
Page 49 and 50: Women also need to have clear infor
Page 51 and 52: Victims reported telling their stor
Page 53 and 54: However, Rights of Women told the C
Page 55 and 56: in the decision-making process is l
Page 57 and 58: continued commitment to joint worki
Page 59: It is also important for the CPS to
Page 63 and 64: isk assessments are not uniform. In
Page 65 and 66: espect and sexual violence is a com
Page 67 and 68: different needs and experiences of
Page 69 and 70: managers. “Sometimes childcare is
Page 71 and 72: local area, with women who have rea
Page 73 and 74: her career, as these women may find
Page 75 and 76: The key issue in my view is that th
Page 77 and 78: Some magistrates noted that they fe
Page 79 and 80: for women to access development opp
Page 81 and 82: Organisations sharing their views w
Page 83 and 84: Institutional change needed:➤ A c
Page 85 and 86: International example of good pract
Page 87 and 88: ➤ The Criminal JusticeSystem will
Page 89 and 90: Key targets / indicators of success
Page 91 and 92: ➤ Women working inthe criminal ju
Page 93 and 94: Key targets / indicators of success
Page 95 and 96: ➤ Policy and practiceof all crimi
Page 97 and 98: ➤The Judiciary and thesenior leve
Page 99 and 100: Appendix ACOMMISSIONERS:Baroness Je
Page 101 and 102: Annexure BSummary of Recommendation
Page 103 and 104: not be means tested.• First night
Page 105 and 106: in circumstances where the Prosecut
Page 107 and 108: • Allocation to a particular cour
Page 109 and 110: EndnotesMarch 200985Questionnaire R
Page 111:
About FawcettThe Fawcett Society is
show all

Engendering Justice - from Policy to Practice - The Fawcett Society

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?