The Guardian: Letter – Shameful persecution of UK rape victims

In Somalia, Lul Ali Osman Barake was sentenced to a year in jail after reporting rape by a gang of men in military fatigues. She described being raped twice, first by the military, second by the judicial system. Following an international outcry, the verdict was quashed on appeal (Report, 8 March). Rape victims in Britain are also pressured to retract and imprisoned. Gail Sherwood and Layla Ibrahim were sentenced to two and three years in jail respectively after reporting rape by strangers. We are supporting their campaign to clear their names.

According to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, it was policy in the Southwark police specialist rape unit in 2008-09 to press women who reported rape to retract their allegations. This was true of police rape units in at least four other London boroughs (Report, 27 February). In 2011, the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, said he would personally review each false rape allegation case before prosecuting. A year later, he decided the Crown Prosecution Service was working effectively without his personal oversight. Yet rape victims continue to be prosecuted.

Last week Women Against Rape wrote to Mr Starmer about several other prosecutions, including of women who were raped for years as children. Each of the cases contravenes the DPP’s 2011 guidance to prosecutors, which are supposed to protect vulnerable women and girls – teenagers, women who have suffered domestic violence or have mental health problems. It is a perversion of the law to prosecute rape victims while their rapists go free. It prevents victims from coming forward and encourages rapists to attack again. Why is this being allowed on the DPP’s watch after all the apologies and the promises, especially in the wake of Savile and Rochdale? Do we need an international outcry to get justice also in Britain? The policy of imprisoning women who report rape is a miscarriage of justice and must be stopped. We urge the DPP to drop such prosecutions.

Lisa Longstaff Women Against Rape
Niki Adams English Collective of Prostitutes
Cristel Amiss Black Women’s Rape Action Project
Vera Bacon All African Women’s Group
Dennis Bartholomew and Luke Daniels Caribbean Labour Solidarity
Sasha Barton Hodge, Jones & Allen LLP
Shamik Dutta Bhatt Murphy solicitors
Colin Francome Emeritus professor, Middlesex University
Claire Glasman WinVisible – Women with Visible and Invisible Disabilities
Ben Gunn
Anne Hall Campaign for Justice for Daniel Roque Hall
Amberine Khan Feminist Society, Queen Mary University
Flo Krause Barrister
Nina Lopez Legal Action for Women
Ian Macdonald QC Garden Court Chambers
Anna Mazzola Bindmans LLP
Nogah Ofer Bhatt Murphy solicitors
Dr Rupa Reddy School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Nigel Richardson Hodge, Jones & Allen LLP
Giorgio Riva Payday Men’s Network
Annie Rose Independent Sexual Violence Advocate
Didi Rossi Queer Strike
Sylvia Salley Women of Colour in the Global Women’s Strike
Mike Schwartz Bindmans LLP
Kim Sparrow Single Mothers’ Self-Defence
Sam Weinstein Retired trade unionist

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/11/shameful-persecution-uk-rape-victims