challenging institutional disbelief around domestic & sexual violence and abuse
I know from personal experience how challenging it is for women who attempt to have the abusers held accountable through the courts. The odds are stacked against us from the very beginning. The first step in the legal process is in reporting the crimes against us to the police, and as we know, most (estimated […]
Email submitted to Metro on article “27 things that men do that women hate” Good Afternoon I am contacting you to complain about this article which appeared on your website on May 3rd. Firstly, it’s my view that articles of this nature should not be appearing in a daily newspaper. Secondly many of the “things” […]
I am writing to express my concern at your article: 27 things men do in bed that women hate which confuses rape with poor sexual etiquette. It is incredibly concerning that you have published such an article without recognising that many of the 27 items constitute rape or sexual assault. Below are a number of the points listed. I have written in […]
Despite the fact evidence has been documented since the 1970s that the ‘freeze fright’ response is a common reaction many female victims experience when they are subjected to male sexual violence, mens’ Male Supremacist legal systems has for decades denied the factual and documented evidence. Now finally prosecution counsel in a rape trial held at […]
This article was originally published on The Conversation. By Ian Cummins, University of Salford The recent publication of a serious case review into the suicide of Frances Andrade reveals how difficult it is for a sexual assault victim to stand and testify against an accuser in court. Keir Starmer, the former director of public prosecutions, […]
Police and media report that “crime falls“ in London while reports of rape increase by 31% and domestic violence rises Of course, lowered crime statistics are worth reporting. But what is very disconcerting is when rape has statistically increased by almost a third, domestic violence statistics are also rising, and not only is that not […]
Violence is utilized to control another through physical force. It is and can be either verbal or physical. It can be a “one time” situation or a long term situation. In the long term situations it is often the battered intimate partners, children, or significant family member who becomes the victims. The perpetrator utilizes physical […]
Anonymity for rape defendants is a bad idea that benefits one key group of people – rapists. (originally published in 2013 here) It was a bad idea in 1975, when it was how rape cases were conducted. In 1975, lest we forget, men still had the legal right to rape their wives (they had this […]
Content note: rape I was absolutely horrified to read this piece about Cheltenham Councillor, Barbara Driver, who stated that ‘when rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it’. I work with survivors and have yet to hear one say she ‘enjoyed’ being raped. I’m unclear as to whether Driver means that rape is inevitable, per […]
“When rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it”. What a thing to say, eh? There are a lot of things one can unpack about Barbara Driver’s comment: that it conflates rape with bad sex; that it assumes & reinforces the belief that the psychological trauma of rape is elective; that it lets the rapist […]