Engendering Justice - from Policy to Practice - The Fawcett Society

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Chapter Four:Women Need Justice - Women as Victims of CrimeThe Criminal Injuries Compensation SchemeThe Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme makesfinancial awards to individuals who have suffered harm as aresult of violence crime and is administered by the CriminalInjuries Compensation Authority (CICA). The scheme canaward compensation ranging from £1,000 to £250,000depending on the nature of the injury plus additionalpayments to cover loss of earnings and expenses. TheMinistry of Justice now has oversight of the scheme butas the House of Commons Committee of Public Accountsnoted in November 2008, the low priority given to thescheme by the Ministry of Justice “belies its importance tothe Ministry’s objective of putting victims at the heart of thecriminal justice system.” 183In 2006, 64 percent of victims of violent crime wereunaware of the scheme and only 5 percent of victimsapplied for compensation. Meanwhile, the average timetaken to resolve a case in 2008 was 17 months and 30percent of applicants paid to be represented by solicitorsalthough Victim Support offers a free service. 184The Ministry of Justice and the CICA should improve themarketing of the scheme including information on: howand where to apply (such as the availability of the onlineapplication form); who is eligible; the Authority helplinenumber; and the free representation service offered byVictim Support. Regular monitoring of the performance ofthe Authority should also be undertaken by the Ministry ofJustice.The Commission was concerned to learn of instanceswhich came to light in 2008, in which victims of rape hadreceived a reduction in their compensation on the groundsthat drinking alcohol had contributed to the circumstanceswhich caused the rape or sexual assault. This approachworryingly reinforces the ‘blame culture’ directed at rapevictims. The Authority has since acknowledged that incases of rape and sexual assault the victim’s alcohol orillicit drugs consumption should not be presumed to be acontributing factor. The Commission recommends that clearguidance is given to caseworkers in relation to claims madeby rape victims and victims of sexual assault.Public Perceptionsand Attitudes…with conviction rates being so low what incentiveis there for a woman to report rape? Particularly daterape or where the offender is known. Some of thecomments made by Judges are also pretty disgracefuland disengage such victims. I think the services whichthe police provide have improved but the way victims areviewed is a different matter.(Questionnaire Response, Police, December 2008)Amnesty’s research in 2006 highlighted the extent of publicacceptance of sexual coercion. The research found that athird of people think a woman is partly responsible if she isdrunk or flirting with a man who later raped her. 185 Asurvey carried out with students in the U.K. in February2009 disturbingly mirrored the findings of the earlierAmnesty survey with results revealing that one in threestudents in the U.K. think a woman is responsible for beingraped if she is drunk and nearly half of students believe awoman is in some way responsible for being raped if shedoes not clearly say no to a man. 186 These attitudes werealso evident in the Home Office commissioned telephonesurvey of 915 individuals in the UK and Wales in lateFebruary 2009. One in four respondents said a womanshould be held partially responsible if she is raped orsexually assaulted when she is drunk; one third thoughtshe would be partially responsible if she flirted heavily withthe man beforehand and 39 percent thought a womanwas partially responsible for rape or sexual assault if shedid not clearly say no to the man. 187 The Commission isvery concerned about these persistent attitudes whichwill impact on reporting rates, police investigation and jurydecision-making.There is an urgent need for a Government-funded nationalawareness raising campaign on rape and sexual violence,similar to those used in relation to drink driving. There arenumerous effective international campaigns to draw onin this area (see below). Additionally, attitudes to sexualviolence are formed very early and need to be addressedrobustly in schools. The Department for Children, Familiesand Schools should ensure that education on consent,Page 64
espect and sexual violence is a compulsory requirementwithin the Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) curriculum.‘This is not an invitation to rapeme’- Rape Crisis Scotland.This campaign challenges common-held attitudes towardsrape that blame female victims. Its aim was to questionvictim blame by highlighting that rape was not acceptablein any situation. The campaign was based upon postersof a series of images depicting women in everydaysettings captioned with taglines highlighting that the imagedepicted was not an ‘invitation’ to rape. The images werealso used in campaign road shows and on a website. Thecampaign provoked significant debate.http://www.thisisnotaninvitationtorapeme.co.uk/Pause Button Campaign, ‘Know when to use yourpause button: sexual assault is not a game’ NewYork City Alliance Against Sexual Assault.This campaign was aimed at 11- 13 year old boys tocreate understanding around issues of sexual assault andto encourage discussion on prevailing attitudes towardsrape. The campaign used posters displaying the messageof the campaign and toolkits for educators and youthworkers.The message is simple and effective: “Know when to useyour pause button: sexual assault is not a game.” Thisclearly draws the attention of the target group using anactivity they can identify with to draw a clear line betweenplaying games and the seriousness of sexual assault.http://www.nycagainstrape.org/pause.htmlMy Strength Campaign, Men Can Stop Rape,CaliforniaThe campaign targets young men, particularly 14 – 18year olds and invites them to be proactive in stoppingrape. The campaign ran state-wide in California utilisingseveral media outlets including radio, print, outdoor, transitand online methods in English and Spanish to promotethe message that a man’s strength should not be usedto violate women and providing positive examples ofmasculine strength and masculinity. Clubs and eventswere set up to bring men involved together and thecampaign used activities such as an annual ‘Walk a Milein Her Shoes’ march to promote the message to a wideraudience.http://www.mystrength.orgPage 65
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 and 60: It is also important for the CPS to
Page 61 and 62: He pleaded innocent, so I prepared
Page 63: isk assessments are not uniform. In
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
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