In rape cases, 'no' means 'no' to everyone except the British...

This follows on from a piece I posted yesterday around the issue of evidence on alcohol use in rape cases. In short, Lady Stern is calling for an abolition of an argument often invoked in rape cases that drunk men who rape can be excused because they know no better. This...

Copenhagen must bring gender justice

"Marginalised women across the developing world will be hit hard by climate change – but their voices are rarely heard."Of course, we know by now that the Copenhagan summit has ended with barely a glimmer of progress. This was nothing if not predictable. Who thought for one...

Drunk men who demand sex should be 'treated as rapists

"Drunken men who demand sex from their wives or girlfriends should be treated as rapists and no longer allowed to claim their judgment was blurred by alcohol, according to the head of the government's review of the rape laws."Well now. This is what seems to be a progressive...

Help teens have sex without pregnancy

"If we are to lower the abortion rate among young women, we must accept that teenagers will have sex and offer them advice." This humble NowPublic author has been saying this for years. Newsflash: teenagers have sex! Another newsflash: teenagers aren't great at using...

Fear dictates Ireland's abortion policy

"Pro-life hatred so dominates the debate it's hard to imagine any real change following this bid to overturn the Irish abortion ban."This piece resonates so greatly with me. As a pro-abortion women who has spent most of her life so far living in Ireland, I know that there is...

Muslim woman 'abused' over dress by Christian hotelier

"A Muslim woman was asked by a Christian hotelier if she was a terrorist and a murderer because she was wearing Islamic dress, a court has been told. Ericka Tazi told Liverpool magistrates she faced a tirade of abuse from Benjamin Vogelenzang and his wife Sharon, at their...

Has Amanda Knox been demonised more than the male co-convicteds?

Feminist criminologists have been studying perceptions of female offenders for a number of years now. The data collected around this issue indicate that a woman will be demonised to a greater extent than a man for committing the same offence. For example: "With the murders...

South Wales police admit failings in rape inquiry

"A police force failed to properly investigate an allegation of rape and let the victim down "by basic policing errors and lack of adequate support", an independent investigation has found."This is another in a series of stories highlighted by this author on the treatment and...

Expert view on rape: 'Victims are judged and often not believed'

"The ability of the criminal justice system to deal effectively and humanely with both rape victims, and victims with mental health problems, has been an area of persistent criticism in recent times."I think I could probably post a piece a day about this issue. Rape victims...

Rape investigations unit launched by Metropolitan Police

"The country's first dedicated rape intelligence unit has been set up within the Metropolitan police promising to identify and track down serial attackers, in response to a series of high-profile failures that left prolific sex offenders free to prey on hundreds of women."And...

Rape complaint woman reaches settlement with police

"In the first known case of its kind, a woman who made a rape complaint which was not investigated properly has reached an out of court settlement with police. Catherine says the man who raped her knew he was targeting a particularly vulnerable woman." This is gratifying news...

Child rape epidemic in Zimbabwe

"Tens of thousands of children have been sexually abused in Zimbabwe in a growing epidemic that has shocked human rights activists. A single clinic in the capital, Harare, says it has treated nearly 30,000 girls and boys who were abused in the past four years ‑ an average...

Prostitution: a crime of purchasing

"Peers have been debating the policing and crime bill. Their deliberations mean that the government will take a historic step: instead of controlling prostitution by punishing women, it will penalise the purchasers – the men." This is an unpredictable development. (And one...