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Woman judge slams drunk rape victims because juries can't convict when women can't remember anything about the attack

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  • Woman judge slams drunk rape victims because juries can't convict when women can't remember anything about the attack

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...er-attack.html

    Woman judge slams drunk rape victims because juries can't convict when women can't remember anything about the attack

    Judge Mary Jane Mowat, 66, gives controversial interview as she retires
    Says rape conviction rate will only improve when women 'stop getting drunk'
    Oxford-educated circuit judge says she knows she'll be 'pilloried' for view
    Rape crisis workers say such 'victim-blaming' is behind low conviction rate
    Oxford Rape Crisis manager calls comments 'outrageous and dangerous'

    By Harriet Arkell For Mailonline

    Published: 14:03, 26 August 2014 | Updated: 16:03, 26 August 2014

    Retiring judge Mary Jane Mowat, 66, said the rape conviction rate would not improve 'until women stop getting so drunk'

    A woman judge who criticised rape victims for drinking too much has been denounced for making 'outrageous' and 'frankly dangerous' comments.

    Judge Mary Jane Mowat, 66, said that the rape conviction rate would not improve 'until women stop getting so drunk'.

    In an interview that coincided with her retirement after 18 years as a circuit judge in Oxford and Reading, Judge Mowat said she had presided over back-to-back rape trials where the victim had been so drunk, she couldn't remember what had happened.

    The Oxford-educated judge, who said she expected to be 'pilloried' for her views, appeared to blame women for the low rates of conviction in rape cases.

    However, she claimed the national rape conviction rate after trial of 60 per cent was partly 'inevitable' due to the lack of corroborative evidence.

    Locally, at Oxford, where she sat until retirement earlier this month, just 24 per cent of rape trials resulted in conviction.

    'It is an inevitable fact of it being one person's word against another and the burden of proof being that you have to be sure before you convict,' said the 66-year-old.

    'I will also say and I will be pilloried for saying so, but the rape conviction statistics will not improve until women stop getting so drunk.

    'I'm not saying it's right to rape a drunken woman, I'm not saying for a moment that it's allowable to take advantage of a drunken woman.

    'But a jury in a position where they've got a woman who says "I was absolutely off my head, I can't really remember what I was doing, I can't remember what I said, I can't remember if I consented or not but I know I wouldn't have done".

    More...

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    'It is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that child victims suffered': 1,400 children were sexually exploited in just one town over 16-year period, report reveals 

    'I mean when a jury is faced with something like that, how are they supposed to react?'

    Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre service manager Natalie Brook said rape convictions would improve when society stopped blaming women.

    'Suggesting that rape conviction statistics will not improve until women stop getting so drunk is an outrageous, misguided and frankly dangerous statement to make,' she said.

    'Rape convictions will improve when those who perpetrate it, who are disproportionately male, stop raping and when society stops blaming women for somehow being complicit in this act of violence.

    'Rape is 100 per cent the fault of the perpetrator and suggesting otherwise serves only to feed myths that do nothing other than deter women from reporting this crime or accessing the support they need.
    Judge Mowat, who sat at Oxford Crown Court, pictured, during her 18 years as a circuit judge, told the Oxford Mail that she sat in back-to-back rape trials where the victim was too drunk to remember what had happened
    +2

    Judge Mowat, who sat at Oxford Crown Court, pictured, during her 18 years as a circuit judge, told the Oxford Mail that she sat in back-to-back rape trials where the victim was too drunk to remember what had happened

    'Eighty five thousand women are raped every year in England and Wales and the majority of rapes are committed by partners.

    'Yet only 15 per cent of those who experience rape will report to the police.

    'With victim-blaming attitudes like those displayed by Judge Mowat it is no surprise that conviction rates remain so low.'

    Last August, prosecutor Robert Colover agreed to resign from the Crown Prosecution Service's rape panel after he branded a 13-year-old who had been abused by a 41-year-old man as 'predatory'.

    Earlier this month the Department of Health was criticised after refusing to apologise for a series of posters which suggested that rape was the fault of the victim.

    The 'Know Your Limits' posters, which were produced between 2005 and 2007 but are still displayed in some surgeries and clinics, said 'One in three reported rapes happens when the victim has been drinking'.

    After a Nottingham-based blogger alerted Cambridge University student Jack May to the posters, May launched a campaign to have the posters taken down, but the government refused to comply, saying the campaign was old.
    PAST CONTROVERSIES IN JUDGE MOWAT'S YEARS AS A CIRCUIT JUDGE

    Three years ago, Judge Mowat let a paedophile teacher walk free after telling him she didn't criticise him for being attracted to children.

    Supply teacher David Armstrong had admitted hoarding more than 4,500 indecent images of children.

    But handing the 63-year-old pervert a suspended sentence, Judge Mary Jane Mowat said: 'I don’t criticise you for being a teacher who's attracted to children.

    'Many teachers are, but they keep their urges under control both when it comes to children and when it comes to images of children.'

    In 2008, Judge Mowat allowed a former headmaster to walk free from court after he said drugs he was taking for Parkinson's disease made him a paedophile.

    Phillip Carmichael said the medication he was taking made him 'hypersexually active' after he was caught with 8,000 images and videos on his computer.

    The judge said the case was 'wholly exceptional' and gave him an absolute discharge.

    Two years earlier, after paedophile Robert Prout was convicted of abusing a 12-year-old girl, the judge admitted she would normally give a suspended sentence but recent public criticism influenced her decision to jail him for ten months.

  • #2
    It's funny how when someone like Judge Mowat says something which is fairly obvious and makes utter sense, the rape crises people start babbling about 'outrageous' and 'frankly dangerous' comments. What's up with them??? She is talking about the conviction rates not rape itself.

    I think it's frankly outrageous and dangerous for women (and men) to get so pie-eyed when they're out that they don't even know what they're doing.
    Let's get a grip and start taking responsibility for our own actions. Patriarchy and the infantilisation of women by other women and well-thinking men has to stop

    Comment


    • #3
      I said the same thing on here some time ago and ended up with a complaint being made against me! I even had a PM from the guy who owns this forum entitled "a tap on the shoulder" and a bit of a telling off!

      How very dare I suggest that being sensible in our behaviour and drinking will result in less risky situations!!

      Many years ago I'd wake up after a heavy night and look down at the bloke next to me in my bed and think "who the hell are you!"

      Just because I couldn't remember what happened, if it did, would never have resulted in me rushing off the the police to claim I 'might' have been raped but I can't remember.

      Too many men are in prison today because their accuser actually could not remember giving consent or even having sex - but that they felt they might have done.

      I stopped the silly behaviour and hey presto waking up with some strange man ceased! It's not rocket science. I never felt guilty about what I did - it was the way I was at the time. I got fed up with it so changed my behaviour.
      People Appealing Convictions of Sexual Offences ~http://www.pacso.co.uk

      PAFAA details ~ https://pacso.co.uk/pafaa-people-aga...ions-of-abuse/

      Comment


      • #4
        It's really refreshing to hear you being so honest about that part of your life. I also went through a phase being a bit of a party animal in my youth.

        I'm sure that behind many of these iffy cases involving nights out/drinking etc is the pernicious and persistent Victorian assumption that women don't enjoy sex, it's something that is done to them and that they have no part in the pre-intercourse behaviour (unless they're hussies).

        In the 60's and 70's women fought for the right ENJOY SEX in an open and risk-free way. I think there's such a conflict in some women's minds about what they want to do and what they feel they should or shouldn't be doing , which leads to confusing in the cold light of day between what they were OK with and what they weren't.

        I am not suggesting in anyway that rape doesn't exist, but let's not get moral prudishness and male hate mixed up with criminality, which is what seems to be going on at the moment.
        Last edited by whatsgoingon?; 28 August 2014, 08:41 AM.

        Comment


        • #5
          I think we've all be a little naughty in our time. It's admitting to it afterwards some people have a problem with, which is why some of them then claim they have been raped. Heaven forbid they might have instigated a sexual liaison with somebody they wouldn't even look at when they are sober!!

          It's a very dangerous game for both parties: heavy drinking can put anybody in a vulnerable situation where they are open to abuse, sexual or otherwise, or being robbed, or as I did earlier this year, lost my bus pass, rail card and rail tickets. I suppose I could have gone running the police complaining it was robbery but I didn't, as I know very well it's likely they slipped out of my purse when I staggered onto the bus.

          Men can be similarly at risk - they drink too much, go to bed with somebody they wouldn't look at twice, tell the woman they don't want to see her again and hey presto - an allegation of rape has been made. Drink has a huge part to play and I'm pleased that judge has actually voiced it. She'll be shot down in flames though by the feminazis.

          Women are now being viewed as potential victims, with no thought as to how our behaviour can be perceived as a come-on by others. We are being babied and given no sense of personal responsibility - that is wrong. IMHO of course!
          People Appealing Convictions of Sexual Offences ~http://www.pacso.co.uk

          PAFAA details ~ https://pacso.co.uk/pafaa-people-aga...ions-of-abuse/

          Comment


          • #6
            What sense you talk RF,can't believe you got a telling off!

            Yes we all know that we should be able to walk around in next to nothing and get so drunk we can't walk should we want to but as you say I think we are then responsible somewhat if we get into a situation afterwards!

            People find it VERY hard to understand a woman saying that and I find it so refreshing to hear it from someone bar me.
            Don't do the next to nothing but the drinking too much,well yes on occasion and sometimes your memory is a bit sketchy.

            We all do things we regret especially when we are drinking and it's up to us to calm our behaviour and be responsible for ourselves instead of looking for someone to blame.

            Watching what I say here as I don't want a telling off but you are spot on with what you are saying.

            Comment


            • #7
              I doubt you'll get a telling off. I've sent you a PM!!
              People Appealing Convictions of Sexual Offences ~http://www.pacso.co.uk

              PAFAA details ~ https://pacso.co.uk/pafaa-people-aga...ions-of-abuse/

              Comment

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