As noted in the last blog posting, new allegations of old sexual misconduct continue to be made and the newest area is football. At the time of writing there are 350 potential victims, 98 clubs involved and 21 police forces investigating[1] with at least two defendants so far charged[2] and another 83 suspects.[3] Some of … Continue reading
It has started to feel as if no area of life is free from sexual exploitation: schools, children’s homes, hospitals and recently football clubs. Now it is the turn of the police to find the spotlight shone on them, by a report from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) which has highlighted cases where officers have … Continue reading
This blog has previously bemoaned the lack of education about consent. BBC Three this week tried to plug the gap with its programme “Is this Rape? Sex on Trial”. I watched with trepidation, but the result was much better than I expected. It allowed discussion by 24 young people who showed themselves to be thoughtful … Continue reading
As Gayle Newland is convicted of sexual assault[1] over her relationship with a female friend during which she pretended to be a man called Kye, the issue of gender and consent is back in the public eye. There are a lot of sensibilities touched upon by a case like Newland, but it is important to … Continue reading
The DPP, Alison Saunders, has released an aide memoire on the issue of consent in sexual cases, for the use of prosecutors and investigators. The document only applied to consent under what many of us still find ourselves calling the “new law”, that is the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The SOA 2003 was a modernising … Continue reading
So ubiquitous has become the phrase ‘revenge porn’ that the Oxford English Dictionary’s next update will probably include it. This concept covers both the posting of previously private indecent images by a disgruntled ex-partner or by a malicious hacker. The combination of the camera phone and the internet provided the fertile ground for this rather … Continue reading
There is no part of a statute which states “The Age of Consent is X”. There is no common law principle giving ‘The Age of Consent”. So what do people mean when they talk about the age of consent? Most people would say that it means the age when it is legal to have sex, … Continue reading
Statistics for domestic violence of the Christmas period are always awful. For some spouses, this can include rape. It is incredible to think that before 1992, the law was that a man could rape his wife, effectively enforcing conjugal rights. The wife was deemed to consent to sexual intercourse on marrying the husband. In 1992 … Continue reading
Barrister Robert Colover has found himself the focus of media ire for his description of a 13 year old girl during a sentencing hearing in which he prosecuted. The NSPCC joined in the condemnation describing his language as representing “a wider pattern about how child sexual abuse cases are taken and treated in our courts”. … Continue reading
People have been lying to other people to get them into bed for as long as there have been beds. This and other deceptions or false promises can cause problems for the courts where the allegation is of a non-consensual sexual offence. Courts have spent the years since the passing of the Sexual Offences Act … Continue reading
