The Law Commission proposals for alternative trial processes for sexual violence sit in a context of the abject failure of the justice system.While communities and survivors in particular have increasingly asked for Police assistance to stop rape and sexual violence - with reporting of sexual offences up 45% since 2004 - the justice sector's ability to respond has not stepped up.
Police estimate, despite reporting increases, that they still only get to hear about 10% of sexual violence in New Zealand. According to the Ministry of Justice Crime and Safety Survey, sexual offences are the fifth most common kind of criminal offence.
The abjectness of our justice system's failure sits not only in how commonplace sexual violence is, or how under-reported. There is also the fact that the conviction rate for reported sexual offences against adults is 13%. Which means there is about a one in a hundred chance that a particular act of sexual violence will be successfully prosecuted by our justice system.
Again with the abjectness not being done. The most damning evidence that our justice system gives survivors of sexual violence a poor deal, in my opinion, comes straight out of the mouths of the justice system. In 2009, research asked New Zealand Police and Crown Prosecutors:
‘If you had a close friend or family member who was a victim of sexual violence, would you recommend they go through the criminal justice system?’41% of Police said no, or they didn't know, if they would recommend going through our criminal justice system. Those who were unsure talked about being happier to recommend if the sexual violence corresponded to rape myths (stranger, violent etc).
I wouldn’t put myself through this and certainly would let a friend or family know how degrading it is and that they will be revictimised and the chances of a guilty verdict are very, very low. (Police)And Crown Prosecutors, those responsible for ensuring sexual violence does not go unpunished? 61% of them said no, or they didn't know, if they would recommend going through our criminal justice system. As with the Police, those who were unsure stressed they would be more likely to recommend for stranger rapes.
In my view the process for complainants in sexual violence cases is brutal, every aspect of the complainant’s character and conduct is questioned and exposed, and the likely outcome is not guilty. (Crown prosecutor)Our current justice system does not work for sexual violence. Not even those deeply embedded within the justice system are happy to recommend it for their loved ones. Sexual violence conviction rates are lower than for any other kind of crime. We must improve this situation if we are serious about sexual violence being unacceptable.
The Law Commission's recommendations on alternative trial processes have the potential to improve this situation significantly.
We have until Friday 27 April to let the Law Commission know what we need from our justice system for survivors of sexual violence. You can tell them here, or email at alttrials@lawcom.govt.nz, or post your submission to:
The Law Commission, ATTN: Alternative Trial Processes Consultation, PO Box 2590, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
Louise Nicholas supports the Law Commission recommendations:
17 comments:
Oh come on James, that's not what it means and I suspect you know it. I'm not going to be diverted into this conversation right now - please respect the point of this post.
Sorry Anonymous, no handle and also derailing. This is not a post about false allegations, as I've said above and I am not interested in having those conversations on this post.
James, please pay attention to the post. It's about the fact that our system at the moment is so poor that Police officers and prosecutors would not recommend it to people they love, if those people were raped.
I will delete any more comments from you which are off topic and veering into false allegations again.
Yeah James, what ABOUT those menz?
Dad4justice - sorry, no homophobic hate speech on this post.
This is a good post. It's sad that every time the area of sexual violence comes up, people have to ring the old "what about all those false accusations" bell. The sad thing is false accusations have been shown to be incredibly rare and contrary to popular belief, women don't just go around holding the threat of sexual violence allegations over men's heads. These recommendations are so important and it's sad to see the comments (although now deleted) focus on the same old tropes.
Thanks Cara - yes, it's an incredibly effective way of diverting attention from the fact that not even prosecutors and the police - those who might be most invested in it - think our current system is fair enough for survivors.
Hello. My Name is Aaron Gilmore and I am past victim and survivor of child hood sexual abuse. My offenders were all female. It's not something based on Genders or sexual orientation and it's sad that some try to pigeon hole it that way. This effects every New Zealander and is not good enough to stay quiet. I too have gone through the legal system and experienced how screwed up it is and I was 'lucky' enough to be a minority that gets a guilty verdict. Like Louise and so many others it's time to talk about it out loud, take away the shame and guilt and give it back where it belongs. Peadophiles and Offenders. Our Pseudo Justice system is letting us all down! What if it happened to someone you loved?
Thanks Aaron.
I take your point too that anyone can be targetted for sexual violence, from your experience and 9% of all men in Aotearoa who experience sexual violence in their lifetime.
But gender is a part of it all - not in terms of all or nothing - but in terms of some of our ideas about gender excusing and minimising sexual violence (eg men always want sex so can't really be victims, and can't stop once they start because they have needs). Which is why according to Police stats 99% of sexual violence between adults is perpetrated by men, 95% of it on women. None of which makes women sexually offending or men and boys being victimised any more acceptable. Thank you for your continuing brave advocacy for survivors, much respect, LJ
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