Pressure mounts for action to curb male violence
It was a pledge that rang hollow for the family of Emma Caldwell as a reopened inquiry into her murder in 2005 enters its seventh year.
After a survey last week revealed three out of five Scots women had suffered sexual harassment or assault, the Scottish government said: “Violence against women and girls is one of the most devastating and fundamental violations of human rights and it is vital that perpetrators are held to account.”
However, women’ s groups and politicians fear police and prosecutors are still failing women as conviction rates, while rising, remain worryingly low.
The official response to male violence against women has come under fresh scrutiny after the murder of Sarah Everard, who was abducted while walking home in London. Meanwhile, the long- running inquiry into Emma Caldwell’s death has prompted renewed concern and Scottish Women’s Aid, which takes over 60,000 calls a year involving violence against women, said: “This case continues to raise concerns about access to justice for women, and the families of women, who experience men’s violence.”
Chief executive Marsha Scott said the murders of all women reflect society’s attitudes towards women, adding: “They are the logical outcome of the system that values men’s privilege over women’s lives and human rights.”
Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary Neil Bibby MSP said the most worrying crime figures and conviction rates involve offences against women.
The Renfrewshire MSP said: “Victims of crime, especially women who have suffered violence, don’t need warm words. They need positive action from the criminal justice system, and that requires robust policies coming from the government down if we are ever going to see change. There is a renewed drive to find justice for victims of male violence against women, with police coming under increasing scrutiny right across the UK.
“There are still serious questions about how the original investigation into Emma Caldwell’s murder was conducted and it is shameful the case remains unsolved.
“No family should have to go through what the Caldwells have been asked to endure. It has been more than six years since the inquiry into Emma’s murder was reopened and 16 years since her death, yet her family are no closer to justice. Emma’s family need to be told what has happened and what is likely to happen now.”
The Caldwell family’s former MSP Hugh Henry, who supported their calls for a new investigation when a forgotten suspect was revealed in 2015, said: “Emma’s murder left its mark on Scotland. What the last few weeks have brought home to all of us is that vulnerable women continue to suffer violence and abuse, and live in fear.”
He said it was essential that Emma’s case was concluded, adding: “Until there is a resolution to the murder of Emma Caldwell, women are very much aware that the man responsible remains a danger to others.
“Police Scotland must make clear active steps are being taken and reassure us this case is not being quietly forgotten.”
“I would like to see Scotland’s first minister and justice minister asked why there has been no justice for Emma Caldwell or her family.”
Campaigner Kim Leadbeater, whose MP sister Jo Cox was murdered during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign, said: “Whenever I hear about cases like Emma Caldwell, Suzy Lamplugh and Claudia Lawrence, my heart breaks because we at least had some resolution with a court case, while the families of those women have had none.
“We need the criminal justice system to change so that crimes of violence against women are robustly dealt with, from ensuring sentencing acts as a deterrent to making sure cases are thoroughly investigated and pursued.
“We need to understand and tackle why the conviction rate for many crimes against women is so low. It must be hard enough to be a victim of such horrific crime, but to go through our criminal justice system only to feel that the trauma you went through has not been fully understood or you weren’t fully believed, must be soul destroying.”
Glasgow University lecturer Dr Anastacia Ryan, director of the charity Umbrella Lane, which campaigns for greater protection for sex workers, said: “When you look back to when women were forced to take to the streets with reclaim the night marches when Peter Sutcliffe was killing, and look at what happened in Emma’s case, how very little seems to have changed.
“Women remain stigmatised and marginalised if they are sex workers or drug users. There certainly is still far less of an outcry if something happens to them, and that is something we have to address.”
Last week, campaigners welcomed proposals for specialist judge- only courts in Scotland to hear rape cases, amid rising concern that fewer than half – 47% – of rape and attempted rape trials result in a conviction, while more than one in five result in a “not proven” verdict.
The proposals were published as a Scotpulse survey for STV found that 59% of female respondents had experienced sexual harassment or assault, while 68% do not feel safe walking alone in Scotland’s streets after dark. Of the women who had been harassed or assaulted, two in five said it happened on the street, while 35% said incidents had occurred in the workplace. The survey questioned 1,055 adults in Scotland over the age of 18 and almost a third said they do not believe men understand the scale of the crisis.
In response, the Scottish government said: “We are investing significant levels of funding in frontline support services to ensure that women and children can safely access the support they need.”