This is What Was New in 2003

DECEMBER 2003

CANADA

BC Supreme Court overrules BC Human Rights Tribunal

Women-Only Rape Crisis Centre and Transition House Did Not Discriminate Against Male-To-Female Transexual

Court confirms any woman’s human right to organize with peers.

VANCOUVER, B.C. - On December 19, 2003, the British Columbia Supreme Court set aside the decision of the Human Rights Tribunal which had held, in error, that the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter had breached the Human Rights Code when it refused to allow Kimberly Nixon, a person without the life experience of being treated as a woman, to train as a volunteer peer counselor at the women-only rape crisis centre and shelter for battered women. Kimberly Nixon is a post-operative male to female transsexual. The court further declined to send the matter back to the Tribunal for a rehearing.

The Court also set aside the Tribunal’s award of damages, which means that Kimberly Nixon must now return the $7,500 that the non-profit volunteer run organization was ordered to pay. Until it was overruled, it was the highest ever amount awarded to compensate for hurt feelings.

Vancouver Rape Relief argued that their organization did not discriminate and, as well, is protected by the section of the Human Rights Code (sec. 41) which protects charitable groups and their right to freedom of association.

Vancouver Rape Relief argued that the tribunal’s decision failed to recognize the rights of women to organize independently in order to address historic experiences of inequality and oppression. In fact the tribunal’s decision opened the way for men to demand entry into women’s organizations. In Vancouver Rape Relief’s case such a situation would have undermined the peer-based self-help objectives of the organization, explains Gwendoline Allison, co-counsel for Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter.

Christine Boyle, Professor of Law at the University of British Columbia, also represented Vancouver Rape Relief. She said, "This decision reinforces existing case law which rejects a formal equality approach to human rights. Ms Nixon had argued for a "disadvantage neutral" approach to human rights. Vancouver Rape Relief had argued that the analysis of discrimination should be contextual and take into account the needs of equality-seeking groups."

Other women’s groups felt intimidated by the threat of human rights complaints for organizing exactly as we are entitled to organize, says Suzanne Jay of Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter, Women are an historically disadvantaged group and there is provision in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and in the Human Rights Code for us to group independently to address these experiences of inequality.

Adds Jay, We’re very glad to be able to turn our full attention to organizing with the raped and battered women seeking our help. Women across the province are suffering the consequences of massive government cutbacks and we’re working to prevent women from falling through the cracks.

Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter made the decision to appeal the Tribunal decision after careful consideration of the tribunal decision and in consultation with legal experts across the country.

The original complaint was filed in August 1995. The lengthy Tribunal hearing took place from December 2000 to February 2001. The tribunal decision was released January 18, 2002.

The judicial review was heard by the Honourable Mr. Justice Robert Edwards. Lawyers for Vancouver Rape Relief are Gwendoline C. Allison, Bull, Housser & Tupper and Christine Boyle, Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia.

BRITAIN

Ian Huntley's rape history

The Humberside Police had discretion to keep allegations on computer if they considered them serious. The problem seems to be a general assumption that most allegations of sexual assault are false. In fact they are true and serious. That is the mind shift that needs to occur to establish patterns of offenders like Huntley and thus prevent further rapes as well as deaths.

Sandra McNeill Campaign to End Rape.

'He certainly was not a Soham man'

On the day of Ian Huntley's arrest I tapped his name into a newspaper database, and there it was - three lines in the Grimsby Telegraph. "Local man on rape charge". This was the occasion in 1998 when he was accused of raping an 18-year-old as she walked home from a nightclub. Although Huntley was charged, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to proceed due to an "unrealistic prospect of a conviction" after viewing CCTV footage showing the pair together in the club. It was that straightforward: know your attacker and forget justice.

Similarly, we now know that he had been accused of a string of offences against children with none resulting in a conviction. When Huntley was 21 he was accused of having unlawful sex with a 15-year-old; a year later he was accused again - same crime, same age girl. He got away with both. He next targeted an even younger child - 13 this time - his crimes obviously escalating. Next time his victim was 11. Then he was accused of four rapes in 15 months. Eight reported sexual assaults, and not a single court case.

It is notoriously difficult to prosecute cases of alleged child sexual abuse, unless the accused is a photofit of what we consider a paedophile to look and behave like, such as Sidney Cook. Rape allegations, too, flounder because the man doesn't seem like some "weirdo" who "needs" to obtain sexual gratification by force. We are so concerned with the ridiculous notion that women and children make up accusations that we forget how many sex crimes slip through the net.

Victims of sexual violence know they are often seen as liars. At a rape case I observed, the defence asked the 18-year-old complainant why police had to persuade her to proceed to court. She answered simply: "Because I knew that I was unlikely to be believed, so thought, 'what's the point of putting myself through this?' "

A Soham resident commented after Huntley's conviction: "We had evil in the village. He certainly was not a Soham person." But if we only consider evil to be lurking in outsiders we will continue to miss the Huntleys. During discussions with friends I would comment that Huntley is a "good-looking, charming man", and I'd face their disgust. "He's grotesque," they'd shout. It is true that Huntley has become grotesque to us now that we know what he has done, but no one should deny that he presented as a personable man to friends and colleagues in the village.

The CPS should proceed with all alleged sex crimes where the complainant is willing to give evidence in court, rather than playing jury and deciding it is unlikely to suc ceed. In the Queens district of New York, the sex crimes unit has such a policy, resulting in an 80% conviction rate. Contrary to a belief the evidence in rape cases is only "one person's word against another", it is rare to find a case where there is no corroborative evidence, when the police and CPS have looked for it.

So why wasn't Huntley stopped before two little girls ended up dead? We can blame the police, CPS and social services for the tragic mistakes made during Huntley's reign, but we must also look hard at ourselves. Why is it that so many people - police, media, and colleagues - used the phrase, "he was so convincing" when told of the string of accusations against him for sex crimes?

The reason I looked him up on the database was because I knew that even a man as young as Huntley would be likely to have some previous form. Sex offenders tend not to gravitate from angel to double child killer, with no offending behaviour in between. Men like him often start their hideous careers committing lower-level crimes, such as flashing and indecent assault. And if they get away with it, it gives them confidence to do much worse.

Research into domestic violence and child sexual abuse highlights the importance of detecting such behaviour at the offset. Dr Sue Griffiths, co-author of the Home Office report, Arresting Evidence: Domestic Violence and Repeat Victimisation, found that "early intervention is the most effective way to prevent more crimes of this nature from happening." Often, there is little or no linking in police records between cases that are pursued and those that go no further after the initial allegation is made.

We should demand that the government puts resources into public education campaigns, as it does for drink driving. If we have one over the limit and drive home without being caught, we will do it again, which might result in someone being killed. More women and children are at risk from the likes of Huntley than the rest of us are of drunken motorists, so let's dispel the myths about sexual offences. Ordinary men often do terrible things. Let them get away with it at the early stages, and Soham won't be the last case of its kind.

Julie Bindel is a member of Justice For Women.

First published in the Guardian, Friday December 19, 2003.

Sexual Offences Act and new webpage

The Sexual Offences Bill was given Royal Assent on 20th November. This piece of legislation marks significant changes in the law relating to rape. We wait to see to what extent it changes the balance of justice in rape cases.

If any TAR members would like to write an analysis of the new legislation we would be happy to post this on the website. We have constructed a new webpage for this purpose and as a start Jennifer Drew comments on the attitudes of the Lords during the passage of the Bill - see the new page under 'Legislation'.

Press Release

The Rape Crisis Federation (Wales and England)

The Rape Crisis Federation (RCF), established in 1996 as a national co-ordinating body for the rape crisis movement in England and Wales, came to an end on 5th November. The key aims of the organisation had been to secure a voice for the 63 independent, locally based rape crisis groups that constituted its membership; to lobby and campaign for changes in legislation on sexual violence and secure statutory funding for rape crisis centres. It was successful on two of these three fronts.

RCF was a strong and vocal advocate for female survivors of sexual violence and for the services that exist to provide support for such women. It successfully lobbied on a significant number of legislative and policy related issues, significantly the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act and most recently the Sexual Offences Bill, which is now nearing the end of its passage through Parliament. It was not successful in securing statutory, central funding for rape crisis services despite strongly lobbying to bring this country in line with other European countries (Ireland's rape crisis services do have centralised state funding). It repeatedly lobbied the Government on bringing the rights of women in this country into line with those of women elsewhere in Europe but to no avail.

The closure of the organisation is not due to a lack of need for such an organisation. Back in 1996 there were 5,759 reports of rape, this year there were over 9,000. The conviction rate for rape currently stands at 5.8%; one of the worst levels in the whole of Europe. The Federation has provided the Government, the Police, the CPS and many other organisations with information and understanding on the issue of sexual violence. It has participated at an international level, working with groups across Europe and beyond to bring the issue of sexual violence firmly onto the political and public agenda. The issues surrounding sexual violence have not gone away and the rape crisis movement will sorely miss the co-ordination of a national body.

The closure of RCF is instead the culmination of a period where its principles, traditions and structures of governance were sorely tested. In this process internal problems unavoidably become public concerns, particularly in a political climate which is becoming increasingly hostile to organisations and individuals who stand outside of the mainstream. It is remarkable timing that just as the Sexual Offences Bill is due to be enacted, just as an Inter-Ministerial group on sexual violence is formed and just as the Government are due to report to the United Nation on action taken to eliminate discrimination against women, the Home Office chose to withdraw their financial support of the only national group that defends women's rights to live their lives free from the fear of male sexual violence.

The withdrawal of funding at the end of October, leaves the organisation with no option but to close. The effects of this will reverberate not only through the corridors of power but also in the lived experiences, hearts and minds of women for a long time to come.

RCF phoneline is no longer operational. The website (www.rapecrisis.co.uk) will be available for a short time.

Congratulations to the winners of the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize

The 2003 ceremony took place on 30th October (the anniversary of Emma's birth).

The individual winner was Shahidah Janjua.

Nominated by Jill Page of Justice for Women (Leeds Branch), Shahidah was nominated in recognition of the long history of involvement she has had within the women's movement - including founding an Asian women's refuge in Sheffield in the mid 80s; founding the first Survivors Support Group in the north of Ireland; her involvement in Justice for Women and, during the past few years, her unfailing determination in her role on the Board of Trustees for the Rape Crisis Federation.

The group winners were South Essex Rape & Incest Centre.

Nominated by Helen Jones of 'Truth About Rape' SERICC will celebrate its 20th birthday in 2004 and so this celebration of their work is very timely. They provide a wide range of direct services to survivors of sexual violence, are also extremely active in lobbying and campaigning work and work in partnership with many other groups locally and at national and European levels.

Daily Mirror Friday September 2003

The front page - as well as giving readers the chance to decide whether certain women's breasts are 'real or fake' - ran the story of Lord Reed who sentenced the rapist of a 13 MONTH old girl to just 5 years.

He had the opportunity to sentence the rapist JAMES TAYLOR to life imprisonment. What sort of offences are reserved for life?? What sort of atrocities do men have to commit against women and children to deserve life imprisonment in this country??

We applaud the Mirror for being brave enough for putting this on its front page.

We know that rape tends to put people off their cornflakes in the morning.

But we desperately need to get the message across that the justice system is failing women and children in this country. Just one more point - please Daily Mirror, next time leave off the picture of women's breasts - its not really appropriate.

Write to  Fiona Parker, Mirror Mailbox, Daily Mirror, One Canada Square, London E14 5AP mailbox@mirror.co.uk fax 020 7293 3975

Starting from an idea of a few women wanting to make a difference to how rape is understood in our society, the campaign continues to gather interest and support from across the globe.

So far the campaign has stimulated interest from activists in Sweden, Canada and the USA. Here are a couple of snippets and we will keep you posted with more news as it happens:

"I think the postcards are great. Can we have some to put in our reception?"
Camilla Rahman, Kvinnoforum, Sweden.

"We are definitely going to use your campaign! It is such an effective campaign and we feel lucky to be able to use it!"
Karen Vernor, Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio, USA.

This page was last updated December 2003.