Don’t let off rapists just because victim sent naked selfies
Sexting doesn’t mean consent, CPS told in bid to boost woeful conviction rates
RAPE victims who sent nude selfies, used casual sex websites or were flirtatious cannot be assumed to have encouraged an attack, updated guidelines for prosecutors warn.
a list of 39 ‘myths’ that must not be applied to those who allege they have been sexually assaulted has been published by the Crown Prosecution Service.
lawyers who prosecute suspects will be told to challenge assumptions such as ‘the victim provoked rape and automatically provided consent by their dress/flirtatious behaviour’.
The measures, which come into force next month, urge prosecutors to dispute claims by defence lawyers that sending sexual messages or images or using sexual ‘hook-up’ apps make it ‘inevitable’ that victims are going to have sex. The guidance also says they must not assume sex was consensual if a victim has gone back to someone’s home after a night out, or if they have used alcohol or drugs.
It also warns it is untrue to assume that ‘if you have lots of sex, including with different people, then you are promiscuous’.
Siobhan Blake, head of rape prosecutions at the CPS, said: ‘ The critical issue is around consent and the giving and understanding of consent. In essence, a person can send a naked selfie, for instance, one day that is not any sort of blanket consent to a sexual encounter on another day.
‘Simply because somebody’s on a hook-up app, it doesn’t mean that they’re giving some sort of blanket consent to any sort of sexual contact.
‘We must not as a society or indeed as prosecutors get distracted by some of the peripheral behaviours that might seem quite unusual to us.’
The CPS guidance also states that it is false to say that ‘if someone displayed signs of sexual arousal during abuse, they wanted and/or enjoyed it’.
a victim is not to be considered a liar if they have made a previous complaint about rape which did not lead to the offender being convicted, it adds, or if the victim themselves has a criminal record. Rape victims do not always scream or fight back during an attack, or call police immediately, it adds, and they may not be able to provide a ‘clear and coherent account of being raped’.
Prosecutors will also be told to challenge incorrect assumptions about an alleged victim’s behaviour after a crime has taken place, such as whether they are ‘visibly distressed’ or are able to carry on with normal activities.
Nor is it true to think ‘only young/ attractive people get raped’ or that ‘strong/independent/powerful/ people don’t get raped’.
Gay men who take drugs or attend sex parties have not necessarily consented to sex, it adds.
The CPS said false allegations of rape were rare – making up just 35 cases during a 16-month sample taken in 2011 and 2012 compared with more than 5,600 rape allegations in the same period.
In July, it revealed that the number of rape convictions had fallen to a record low in England and Wales. Just 1,439 suspects were convicted of rape or lesser offences in 2019/20 – down 25 per cent from 1,925 the previous year.
The number of completed prosecutions also reached a record low, falling almost a third from 2,102 in 2019-20 compared with 3,034 in 2018-19.
‘Must not be considered a liar’