[user104658]

It's extremely complicated as it's only beneficial (including for the victim) for the police to proceed if there's a decent chance of securing charges... and the nature of sexual assault means that "beyond reasonable doubt" is very difficult to prove without evidence of force (when threats, intimidation and coercion are used as often if not more than force) and there are often no 3rd party witnesses.

It can actually be psychologically worse for the victim to proceed only for the casxe to be dropped or lost because of lack of evidence. Mainly because people are dumb about legal things - if it goes nowhere in the first place a lot of people are willing to say "Maybe, who knows". If it's pursued and then dropped, people start saying "Oh he was found INNOCENT so she was LYING!" when in fact there was just no hard evidence.

I don't know what the answer is.

[ChristmasNeeve]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

It's extremely complicated as it's only beneficial (including for the victim) for the police to proceed if there's a decent chance of securing charges... and the nature of sexual assault means that "beyond reasonable doubt" is very difficult to prove without evidence of force (when threats, intimidation and coercion are used as often if not more than force) and there are often no 3rd party witnesses.

It can actually be psychologically worse for the victim to proceed only for the casxe to be dropped or lost because of lack of evidence. Mainly because people are dumb about legal things - if it goes nowhere in the first place a lot of people are willing to say "Maybe, who knows". If it's pursued and then dropped, people start saying "Oh he was found INNOCENT so she was LYING!" when in fact there was just no hard evidence.

I don't know what the answer is.

Yeah, unfortunately that's the reality of it. I would say though even in cases where there seems to be strong evidence like that NI Rugby player case, the men seem to get off. Also, what they need to be looking at is how these cases are dealt with and how the victim is treated in court, like she's the one on trial. Talk about what she was wearing, passing her underwear around the court etc

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Yeah, unfortunately that's the reality of it. I would say though even in cases where there seems to be strong evidence like that NI Rugby player case, the men seem to get off. Also, what they need to be looking at is how these cases are dealt with and how the victim is treated in court, like she's the one on trial. Talk about what she was wearing, passing her underwear around the court etc

It doesn't help that there are constant calls to "prosecute the accuser" if a rape case is found not to be proven - who is going to take that risk when they've already been through a trauma? It shouldn't even be whispered unless there's some sort of concrete evidence of fabrication, e.g. the accused being verified to have been nowhere near the location (by independent, verifiable sources - not their pals and family).

[ChristmasNeeve]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

It doesn't help that there are constant calls to "prosecute the accuser" if a rape case is found not to be proven - who is going to take that risk when they've already been through a trauma? It shouldn't even be whispered unless there's some sort of concrete evidence of fabrication, e.g. the accused being verified to have been nowhere near the location (by independent, verifiable sources - not their pals and family).

Exactly. And no matter what people say, I'm really of the strong opinion that most women would not lie about being raped, everyone knows what an ordeal it is for the victim and how a lot of women are painted in the court rooms, their sex lives brought up etc