News

Scottish women’s organisations make final appeal to House of Lords to scrap the 'rape clause'

Scottish Women’s Organisations are today calling on a little-known House of Lords committee to re-examine the so called ‘rape clause’ which limits tax credits and the child element of Universal Credit to two children unless a third or subsequent child was the result of rape.

In a letter to the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee of the House of Lords, national women’s organisations Engender, Rape Crisis Scotland and Scottish Women’s Aid, have challenged the basis of the legislation itself, and the manner in which it was covertly passed using a procedure that avoided parliamentary debate.

I Just Froze

Rape Crisis Scotland has launched a new campaign set to challenge and change common misconceptions that there is a right or wrong way for people to react during or after a rape.

Funded by the Scottish Government and voiced by Daniela Nardini ‘I just froze’ is centred on two creative animations. The online campaign emphasises that freezing is a common and natural response to rape, challenging prevalent beliefs that ‘fight or flight’ are the only valid responses to trauma. In doing so, ‘I just froze’ defies the idea that people are always able to fight back or report rape straight away and helps people to understand why this might be. This understanding is vital to improving public attitudes and responses to survivors of sexual violence across Scotland.

National standards for forensic examination

National standards for forensic examination
Ensuring support for victims of sexual assault.

New nationwide standards are being introduced to ensure consistent delivery of forensic medical examinations for victims of sexual violence.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland has been commissioned to produce the standards, which will ensure best practice is applied when examining victims following a rape or sexual assault – including the conditions and way examinations are handled.

Fall in number of prosecutions and convictions for rape and attempted rape

New figures released by the Scottish Government show a 16% drop in the number of convictions for rape and attempted rape in 2015/16. The number of cases prosecuted has also fallen.

Rape is a crime which can take a great deal of courage to report. It is worrying to such a small proportion of reported rapes and attempted rapes are ever prosecuted. Rape complainers tell us how devastating it can be to be informed that their cases is not going to court. It is no wonder that some rape survivors are turning to the civil courts to seek justice, as we saw yesterday with the very brave action by Denise Clair.

One of the biggest barriers to rape cases reaching court is the requirement in Scots law for corroboration, which disproportionately affects crimes such as rape and domestic abuse. We believe that it is time for the Scottish Government to look again at removing the requirement for corroboration.