News
Public consultation on sentencing
The public is to
have a say in the development of Scotland’s first sentencing
guideline which
will influence the way offenders are sentenced in our courts.
The Scottish Sentencing Council is launching a public consultation on its first draft guideline, which sets out the principles and purposes of sentencing for all offences.
The Council, which
is made up of judicial, legal and lay members,
was set up as an independent advisory body to promote consistency in sentencing
across Scotland. An essential part of its work is to prepare guidelines for the
courts.
Although some relevant guidance already exists in the form of court
decisions in particular cases, this will be the first time that a comprehensive
definition is provided for the principles underlying sentencing decisions and
the purposes they seek to achieve. [Image: Lady Dorrian, the Lord Justice Clerk]
Non-consensual image-sharing criminalised
Rape Crisis Scotland welcomes
new legislation coming into effect today
which makes the non-consensual sharing
of intimate images and videos (or threatening to share these) a criminal
offence.
Finding that someone has
publicly shared images they believed were private within the context of a
trusting relationship can be devastating and can leave people struggling with
feelings of shame, embarrassment, fearing a variety of consequences and not
knowing where to turn for support and justice.
Invitation to tender to provide legal advice & representation to the Scottish Women's Rights Centre
Rape Crisis Scotland in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic invites tenders to provide legal advice and representation for the Scottish Women's Rights Centre.
Deadline is noon on 31st May 2017.
For more information please download this document.
EHRC takes a stand against the #rapeclause
Rape Crisis Scotland welcomes the stand taken by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in defending the human rights and privacy rights of rape survivors.
In a letter sent today by the Commission to Damian Hinds MP, Minister for Employment at the Department of Work and Pensions, the Commission refers to ‘the invasive reporting requirements of intimate details’ and states:
‘We consider that there has been a failure to fully consider the impact of the implementation of this exemption, including the potentially traumatic process for having eligibility assessed and the risk of retraumatisation upon survivors of rape. This system would rely upon women who we know from statistics are overwhelmingly unlikely to report rape to police, reporting it to Department of Work and Pensions. The approach also does not account for children born of an ongoing abusive relationship, where women may not exercise power over decisions on how many children to have - and when.’
Outraged at the Rape Clause? Here’s what you can do
If you are as concerned as Rape Crisis Scotland is about the very real harm that the Rape Clause will do (see https://is.gd/pyamdh to find out what this really means for women and children), and want to do something about it, please consider writing to your elected representatives to ask them to do everything they can to put an end to this appalling piece of legislation.
By contacting your MP about this issue and asking her/him to represent your views, and the interests of survivors, you will be taking a valuable step towards rolling back an unworkable policy so inhumane that 78 psychologists have signed a letter stating that the #rapeclause 'will cause significant psychological harm' : https://is.gd/RtwTyZ .
RSSLatest posts
- Sex crimes in Scotland reach second-highest level in 54 years
- RCS calls for the Scottish Government and MSPs to work together to introduce key legislation for survivors of sexual crime
- Changes announced by the Sottish Government to the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill
- Landmark judgment on corroboration in sexual offence cases
- New figures show a significant rise in number of reported rapes in Scotland
