Social media ‘demonises women for rape attacks’
‘Myths’ deter victims from reporting crimes for fear of being judged at fault, says leading investigator
RAPISTS are escaping justice because of entrenched “myths” played out on social media that it is a woman’s fault if they get drunk or do not fight back, says one of Britain’s top rape investigators.
Det Ch Supt Helen Lyons, Scotland Yard’s lead on rape investigations, who spoke to The Daily Telegraph alongside a victim, warned that such myths were being amplified by social media and deterring victims from reporting the crime because of fears of being judged.
The Met has reduced the proportion of rape victims who refuse to support a prosecution from 37.4 per cent to 28.3 per cent in a year even when the suspect has been identified, but Ms Lyons said she was determined to do more.
“There’s a huge myth in relation to alcohol and mental health, and I feel strongly that we need to work with partners to face those rape myths head on… Because juries are part of our society, and if society is not educated in the principles of rape myths and why they are so corrosive, that will impact further along the judicial system.
“We must seek to not only train our officers, the Crown Prosecution Service, our partners and victim-survivor groups but also wider society.” Ellie
Clarkson, 21, who was raped by an older stranger at a party in London when she was a teenager, said the biggest deterrent was fear of being judged.
“What scared me was people’s perceptions and the stigma around it,” said Ms Clarkson, who has waived her right to anonymity to speak out.
“When he [the perpetrator] was convicted and sentenced and the story was published, people’s comments on social media were: ‘I bet she was wearing this’, ‘what had she been drinking’, and ‘ if you really didn’t want to, then you would have done this or that’.”
Ms Clarkson said she was startled when the defendant’s barrister claimed the rapist thought she “fancied” him and had put her arm around him.
“That was a lie,” she said. “I don’t like people thinking I am lying. In my head I thought ‘it is this man’s job to make you look like a liar’. That’s the only relationship I am going to have with him [the barrister]. It is almost like you are in an argument trying to convince people that you are in the right. It is just horrible. Why are you not asking him: ‘Why did you do that?’
“The first thing is always to question his innocence rather than his guilt. They are trying to prove him innocent before anything has even happened.”
Her case took two years to come to court but she said she was supported by a single SOIT (sexual offences investigation trained) officer.
“I wouldn’t have got through it without Sam [the officer],” said Ms Clarkson, adding she felt “almost powerful” when her attacker was jailed for 12 years.
Ms Lyons said the Government should take advantage of the current backlog of cases to consider a major review of the criminal justice system.