challenging institutional disbelief around domestic & sexual violence and abuse
Introduction On 3rd February 2014, Sir Keir Starmer announced that what the Criminal Justice System really needed was a Victims’ Law. Anyone who blogs can feel his frustration at not being listened to when we have the answers. If only he had been in a position to do something about this in the last five more »
I’m horrified by this story of a man who gets a non-sentence for assuaulting a woman in her own home. Particularly striking is the fact that “she was terrified and needed to relax” during the assualt and that he’d “got a bit naughty”. Apparently it’s all ok though as his offence wasn’t as serious as more »
We have been sent a post recently which discusses the issue of men who murder their children, the act of filicide. It was sent into us in response to the news that Julian Stevenson had taken his own life, prior to his trial in France for the murder of both of his children. As an more »
Hello, Having used all remaining reserves to get through my child’s birthday, Christmas and New Year, I am left feeling quite angry, in shock and within that a very real sense of despair. 35 years ago I was sexually abused by 2 men; one a relative by marriage, the other a boyfriend of my mother. more »
The recent verdict of ‘not proven’ reached by a jury in the case of Sean Devenney, who committed a string of sexual attacks on young women at a T in the Park event this year used the fact that he was ‘on Planet Pluto’ as mitigation for his crimes. Note that Devenney nor his defence more »
Sean Devenney admitted to sexually assaulting several women at T in the Park as well as performing a sex act in front of others. Yet, a Scottish court returned a “not proven” verdict. Devenney admitted to the crime and there were witnesses yet a jury returned a “not proven” verdict. Sean Devenney’s mitigating defence: he more »
One thing has become clear from following the @EVB_Now Twitter feed and reading the fantastic submissions on their blog – the law regarding consent does not work. Hardly a day goes by without us being treated to another horrific story of a rapist walking free because there is not enough evidence to prove conclusively that more »
When I read headlines on Domestic Violence and they contain the immortal words; “He Just Snapped” – it will very often contain the following; “out of character”, “isolated incident”. The reporting of Domestic Violence is not doing anything to stem the flow of misrepresentation about this crime. Type “He Just Snapped” into Google, watch the more »
The transcript of Jimmy Savile’s final police interview reveals the language used by a prolific paedophile operating under the nose of a viewing public. Described by the Daily Mail as ‘bluster’ it is not the denials, the blatant lies or obscured threats, but the confusing smokescreen, a deliberate un-stating of allegations which misdirects all listening. more »
We’re planning to write about mitigation used in court cases & we need your help! We’re looking for: Media reports where abusers used excuses for their behaviour (example – intoxication, debt, mental ill health – this is a good example) Research analysing the ‘mitigating factors’ used as part of a defence Court transcripts detailing mitigation more »