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Standing up for Rape Crisis services
It’s hard to describe the feeling of waking up to a flurry of notifications on Twitter claiming Rape Crisis to be protecting abusive men when our very existence is to support and improve responses to survivors of sexual violence.
Nothing has changed and yet everything has changed.
We at Rape Crisis are no strangers to debate; we spend much of our time advocating for change in a society that still jokes about rape, a country where sexual comments are thrown out of passing cars at girls as young as seven as they walk home from school. But this isn’t business as usual, and as conversations around the Gender Recognition Act become increasingly worrying, let us set something straight.
Letter to Boris Johnson
Survivor Esme Johnson recently published an open letter on Twitter in response to comments made by Boris Johnson about investigations into historic cases of child sexual abuse.
Rape Crisis Scotland is grateful for her permission to reproduce here a slightly abridged version of her powerful message.
It’s been a few weeks now since your illuminating interview on LBC Radio.
I thought it better to wait to respond until I was able to use inoffensive language. It’s a shame that you did not similarly take a moment’s pause to do the same before that interview.
Artemisia Gentileschi: transcendent survivor
Bridgeton lived up to its name last week as a unique presence took up temporary residence in one of its most treasured institutions, bringing together as she did so the culture of 17th century Italy with contemporary Scotland.
Since her painting ‘Self-portrait as St Catherine of Alexandria’ went on display last Wednesday, Artemisia Gentileschi has cast her quiet glance over the many visitors who have stopped by the Glasgow Women’s Library to see what all the fuss is about, and has generated many discussions about the significance of that glance, and much else.
2.8 wasted years and grief that I will carry forever
The end result was the Not Proven verdict.
[Photo by Aricka Lewis on Unsplash]
When I left the court room after the closing statements the only real update I could give to my friends and family is that if the man who did this did not end up in jail then really, no victims of sexual assault stand any sort of a chance in the justice system - and that means we continue to live in a broken society where sexual assault continues to be rife. I knew the chance of conviction was low but it was none the less traumatising to witness and experience first hand the level of impunity.
Corroborating lack of consent in rape cases
At Rape Crisis Scotland, we know that many people freeze during a traumatic experience such a rape meaning that there is often little or no physical injury.
The Lord Advocate’s Reference in 2001 clarified that force was not required to prove rape (it also removed the peculiar anomaly that someone who was sleeping couldn’t be raped and would instead be prosecuted for clandestine injury). However, in a legal jurisdiction which requires corroboration of the key elements of a crime, there can be significant challenges in proving lack of consent in rape cases.
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