In BBC Scotland’s, 2-3 minute insert in BBC Breakfast this morning, the above story, and on the website:
Walking into a witness box to give evidence is one of the most daunting things a person can do. Giving evidence as a victim of a sexual assault case is even more challenging. That’s something rape survivor Sarah Lee knows too well. Fears about being judged on her appearance added to that pressure. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw4g17plp75eo
Clearly a worth cause but there are other related news stories of great significance, to all of us, of course, but in particular to women, important for how they feel, but never told.
Further evidence that BBC Scotland will not tell you of:
From Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2022-23, there was a 63% increase from 2014, in people proceeded against for rape and attempted rape and a 108% increase in convictions for these. https://www.gov.scot/news/criminal-proceedings-in-scotland-2022-23/
Comparisons are not simple but can be done.
Rape offences 2-3 times higher in England & Wales than in Scotland
The police in Scotland recorded 2,529 rape or attempted rape crimes between in 2022/23, compared with 2,498 rape crimes in the previous reporting year.
All things being equal, per head of population with 11 times that, we might expect there to have been 27 819 cases in England & Wales.
There were 68 949, up from 16 038 ten years before. More than twice as many.
Sources:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/617767/rape-and-attempted-rape-scotland/#:~:text=The%20police%20in%20Scotland%20recorded,in%20the%20previous%20reporting%20year https://www.statista.com/statistics/283100/recorded-rape-offences-in-england-and-wales/#:~:text=Rape%20offences%20have%20increased%20dramatically,the%202022%2F23%20reporting%20year.
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Since there is rightly much public concern about sexual assaults and women are the largest groups of victims, it is disappointing that the media narrative is largely about reporting the occurrence about such nastiness. However, these stories need to be balanced by reports on conviction rates to reassure women and others that progress is being made on the conviction of perpetrators.
Women have often been discouraged from reporting sexual assaults partly because of unsympathetic police responses, from the ordeal of the adversarial trial system where their intimate lives are wrenched open, and from historically low conviction rates.
It was the actions of some courageous women who faced these ordeals that has brought about changes. Police handling of such reports is much more supportive and sympathetic, trial procedures have been amended.
So providing data on increased conviction rates must be some reassurance for women. Indeed, not reporting it only adds to the atmosphere of fear created by the media in such matters.
The News of the World sold millions of copies over decades by salacious reporting of details of rape cases. With its demise I thought such exploitative reporting had ceased. But, now we have the reporting of the trial of Russel Brand for raping several women being reported as if it were a crime drama series.
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