Anonymity in Rape Cases - Coursework Example

Anonymity in Rape Cases Introduction Rape cases are rising rapidly in the world today. The high rape cases in the world has made it a complex crime to analyze. This is because many sexual attacks are not reported by the affected. Sexual assault against women and children has become an issue of concern in the world and has made the ruling government in the countries faced by this problem to pass laws that protect the affected. Human rights groups have also played a major role in dealing with this issue of sexual assault in the world. However, the laws that are passed seem to favor the women and children who are sexually abused leaving out those that have been accused of committing the offence. It is not always true that the accused may have committed the crime as reported by the complainant. Some rape cases have found the complainant to be guilty of accusing the defendant falsely. Most of the rape incidences are not committed by a single person. A gang may choose to commit the crime on a person or on a group of people. An example is a group of boys from West Auckland who called themselves ‘Roast Busters’. This group targeted teenage girls who they made drunk and afterwards gang-raped them (Ludovica 2014). With the rise of anonymity in rape cases, legislations have been put in place to protect both the complainant and the defendant. These laws help to maintain transparency in the judgment of the case and hence the charges are directed towards the party that is found to be guilty of committing the offence. This paper will look into details on the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976 Section 4 that was put in place in 1976. It will also provide for its weaknesses and strength of the legislation and will give a conclusion on the legislation and what amendment have been made to make it efficient. Overview of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976(SOAA 1976) The Sexual Offence Amendment Act of 1976 not only provided for anonymity to complainant but also to the defendants. The aim of this act was to prevent stigmatization among the innocent defendants. It is not always true that those who reported sexual assault cases were sexually assaulted. Some lie for their own personal benefit. The aim of this act was to treat both the defendant and the complainant equally according to the laws. The provisions for this act were that once a person was found guilty to have committed a rape crime, his identity should not be published. Publication of the name, address and other material that belonged to the accused were prohibited from publication (Taylor 2014).The act also provided for conviction of people who published the rape related offences. A fine not exceeding £500 would also be charged the person found to have published the names and address of people who are involved in a rape case. According to the Ministry of Justice Research Series 2010 the Sexual Offence (Amendment) Act 1976) act benefited the defendants more than the complainant since it prevented them facing the consequences of false allegations. Provision for anonymity for both the complainant and the defendant was not the case in the previous years. The Helibron Committee of 1975 did not intend to extend anonymity to the defendant. However, anonymity was granted to the defendant when the parliament voted to extend anonymity to the defendants. This saw the rising of the sexual offence amendment act 1976 which saw anonymity granted to both the defendant and the complainant. Though there are restrictions that prohibit the media to publish the identity of the complainant, there are some times when the restrictions are lifted. For example when the complainant decides to reveal his or her identity then the restrictions are lifted. The court can also lift the restrictions when it wants witnesses to come forward to help in the case. Restrictions are put to prevent the identity of the complainant because it causes stress and pressure since the complainant becomes a public image. After the sexual reforms amendment acts, there have been more amendments to the legislation over the years to date to ensure that the legislation is favorable to the people. The amendments that have taken place since 1976 have not always been effective since they have faced opposition and rejection from the parties that feel their rights are being violated by those laws. One of the amendments after the Sexual Offence Amendment Act of 1976 was the Fifteenth Report of the Criminal Law Revision Committee (CLRC), on Sexual Offences, April 1984. Fifteenth Report of the Criminal Law Revision Committee (CLRC), on Sexual Offences, April 1984 The arguments in this report were that anonymity should be extended to the defendants. The criminal law revision committee argued that since all defendants are involved in criminal cases there was no need to differentiate them while executing justice. According to the Fifteenth Report of Criminal Law Revision Committee 1984, granting anonymity to the defendants meant that their names would be made public by the social media. However, this amendment did not favor the defendants since cases of blackmail would arise leading to the violation of the rights of defendants. At times the complainant may not have actually been sexually assaulted and may tend to lie to the court. This puts the defendant at the risk of false conviction. This report ought to have allowed witnesses to come forward to help the judges give a ruling that is fair to both the parties. A good judgment should leave both parties satisfied with the ruling. However, most of the rulings done based on this report where anonymity is guaranteed more to the complainant puts the defendant at a high risk of suffering consequences of sexual violence. This report is also very important because when one is accused of assaulting someone sexually, witnesses will come forward and help in the trial, witnesses will also be under pressure to tell the truth and also sustains public self-reliance in the government of integrity (JSB et.al 2009). In this report, identity of men who were accused of rape was not published. Until the court had found them guilty, then they could be made public. This law protected the defendant from stigmatization which came about due to his identity being made public. When the defendant is proven to have done something awful, then the matter can be made public to allow for public scrutiny (Steve 2013). The public always have a role to play in administration of justice and therefore the court’s ruling on rape cases should be made public to allow judgment and opinion from the public. The Criminal Justice Act 1988 After the criminal law revision committee in 1984, four years later the parliament passed the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) 1988.Unlike other amendments that upheld anonymity to the defendants, the CJA extended anonymity to the complainant. This law incorporated both the recommendations in Helibron Report and those in CLRC report. By accepting Helibron Report recommendations and extending equality to the accused, the government would help in achieving equality between the two parties. This law is viewed as beneficial as it is in favor of both parties that are involved in the case. Though the Helibron Report recommendations would give complainants anonymity and encourage them to come forward, most of them do not come forward (Baird 1999). Cases where adults commit sexual assault, identity is revealed. However, this is not the case because in child abuse cases, identity of the accused is not much revealed and there is no one who suggests that justice has been compromised. Adoption of this law would mean anonymity would only be extended to the complainant while leaving out the defendant (Sally 2012). This would create public interest to be involved in the trial to ensure justice is administered since false allegations can be layered upon the defendant. Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992) Unlike the other acts on sexual offences, the sexual amendment act 1992 does not provide anonymity to rape victims. Neither does it favor the defendant nor the complainant. Though the media is allowed to publicly identify the sexual offence victims, it is not allowed to do this through the entire lifetime. The court provides for restriction on identifying the rape offence victims. For example where allegations involve family rape and the accused relative does not enjoy being anonymized should be kept away from being published by the media to protect the identity of the complainant. A person charged with a sexual offence can appeal to the court and inform them that incorporation of witnesses can lead to the matter being published without the consent of the court. Offences for which restrictions apply include rape, offensive attack and indecency with children. The decision to make the matter public or keep it confidential lies wholly to the court. It gives a ruling on whether to give the media the go ahead to publish the matter after considering the application from both parties. The media also has to be careful while reporting the matter because it has to abide by the guidelines by the court and any deviation can make the media to be charged for their misconduct. Sexual assault cases with many sexual assault victims have been found to have a family or close connection between them. At times complainants can decide to withdraw their rape allegation due to the following reasons: fear of further disclosure, lack of strength to go on with the allegation and fear of being disbelieved (Kelly 2005). Moreover, relationships that exist between the complainant and the defendant can make the complainant to withdraw the allegation because he or she may not be willing to give evidence and also the witnesses may refuse to give the evidence (Harris & Grace 1999). Since then, amendments on sexual offence laws have been going on to date. The amendment that followed the sexual amendment act of 1992 was the sexual offence anonymity of defendants bill 1999.This bill was moved in by Crispin Blunt and its main aim was to protect teachers from mischievous accusations by giving them privacy if they were accused of a sexual assault against a child under their care. According to Blunt, this bill would help more young men to enter the profession because they would be assured of anonymity by the law. Publicity of teachers who have been involved in sexual assaults have led to some of them taking away their lives. Nick Drewett a 31 year old teacher took away his own life while facing charges due to acting wrongly with the children under his care. The reason why Nick took away was due to his identity being published. He was filled with stigma and stressed and chose to take away his own life. There is little awareness that teachers are vulnerable to false allegations about sexual abuse and therefore this bill would help protect their identity during their investigation (Crispin 1999). The Sexual Offence Act 2003 afterwards followed the Sexual Amendment Act of 1992. This act aimed at reforming the laws that were there before on sexual offences. The government felt that the existing laws on sexual offences were out of date hence a need to reform them. According to the Sexual offence Act 2003, tougher charges on offenders of the sexual offence laws were introduced hence would reduce the cases of sexual assault among women and children. These act brought a big change on how cases on sexual assault were to be handled. It prevented the defendant from being laid upon false allegations by the complainant. Research on rape victims Most of rape victims do not report their cases to the authorities due to different reasons. According to Walby and Allen (2004) the people who report rape cases to the authority are those who the action left physical injuries and pain. These people describe rape as an act that causes physical injury .Rape is not a sexual act that leaves physical injury but rather a sexual act that is done to the person forcefully or without consent of the person. Research in North America has found out that when a rape results to injury, the person affected is more likely to report the matter (Bachman 1998). Sexual assault does not only live the person with physical injuries but it also leaves the person with stress and the person may feel stigmatized. According to Kelly et.al (2005), the reason why most of the people who are sexually abused in England and Wales do not report their cases is because of the distrust of the police and the Criminal Justice System agencies. Another reason is because they fear that the issue would be disclosed in the public and hence create negative judgment from family members and friends. Creating anonymity for those affected by the incidence would help more people to report the cases. Moreover, anonymity would help investigations to go on. When a victim reports case and the case is disclosed to the public, the complainant may withdraw his or her complainant because she feels embarrassed of the issue. Most of the rape cases are not dealt with to completion. This is because of lack of evidence and witnesses. A sexual assault case that the defendant uses a weapon is more likely to be prosecuted because there is a clear evidence. Reporting of sexual assault cases also varies to with the perpetrator. If a sexual assault is committed by someone known to the victim, the case will take longer to be reported than the one that has been committed by a stranger (Feist, Ashe, and Lawrence McPhee & Wilson 2007). Impact of anonymity Although provision of anonymity is important because it prevents the complainant from being stressed due to her being made a public figure, it hinders investigations from going on because those involved with investigation cannot release names or addresses of those thought to be involved in the sexual assault. This can also lead to lack of witnesses who help in the conviction of the defendant. Provision for anonymity has led to many cases becoming unsuccessful because they lack evidence to support the accusations (Lisak & Miller 2002).Anonymity can also lead to more sexual assault crimes because people are assured of protection of their identity. The court should therefore be careful while providing for anonymity in a case. Conclusion Most of the cases nowadays are seemingly to be successful because of removal of anonymity. People have learnt to be in the front line to help in administration of justice by the judges. Incorporation of media coverage during the proceedings have also brought a great impact to the prosecution of cases. The social media is expected to abide by the laws provided by the court but this has been met with a violation by the social media groups as they do not abide to the laws (Thomas 2010). Judges dealing with serious offences recall media coverage and put it into consideration due to public interest on justice. Unlike the judges who are careful on media coverage, the verdicts do not put much emphasis on the role of media coverage which is of vital importance (Chesterman, Chan and Hampton 2000). The government should inflict strict charges to people who are found to have sexually assaulted other people. If someone is served with a harsh punishment, definitely it will be hard for the person to repeat the offence (Soothill, Francis, Ackerley and Fligelstone 2002). Awareness campaigns by the government should be conducted on rape cases and the importance of reporting the cases stressed upon. The government should also put in place strict legislations that will prevent the convicts from committing the crime in future. Programs to encourage rape victims should also be carried out since they face stigmatization and become stressed (Rothbaum, Kozak, Foa and Whitake 2001). This can pose a threat to the normal running of their day to day activities. Witnesses should also be encouraged to come forward to help in the provision of relevant information on the case. References Bachman, R. 1998. ‘The factors related to rape reporting behavior and arrest: New evidence From the National Crime Victimization Survey.’ Criminal Justice & Behavior, 25, (1), pg.8-29 Baird, V. 1999. Rape in Court. London: Labour Lawyers Association. Chesterman, M., Chan, J. and Hampton, S. 2002. Managing Prejudicial Publicity: an empirical study of criminal jury trials in New South Wales. Law and Justice Foundation Criminal Law Revision Committee. 1984. Fifteenth Report of the Criminal Law Revision Committee, Sexual Offences, Cmnd 9213, April 1984 Crispin. B. 1999. Sexual offences anonymities of defendants. Points of order. Retrieved from http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmhansrd/vo990330/debtext/90330-09.htm Feist, A., Ashe, J., Lawrence, J., McPhee, D. and Wilson, R. (2007). Investigating and detecting recorded offences of rape. Home Office online report 18/07, London: Home Office Harris, J. and Grace, S. 1999. A question of evidence? Investigating and prosecuting rape in the 1990s. Home Office Research Study 196, London: Home Office. Judicial Studies Board, Newspaper Society, Society of Editors and Times Newspapers Ltd. 2009. Reporting Restrictions in the Criminal Courts. Kelly, L., Lovett. and Regan, L. 2005. A gap or a chasm? Attrition in reported rape cases. Home Office Research Study 293, London: Home Office. Lisak, D., and Miller, P.M. 2002. ‘Repeat Rape and Multiple Offending Among Undetected Rapists.’ Violence and Victims, 17, (1), pg.73-84. Ludovica, L. 2014 Top 5 Countries with the Highest Rates of Rape. Retrieved from http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/top-5-countries-highest-rates-rape-1434355 Ministry of Justice Research Series 20/10 providing anonymity for those accused of rape: an assessment of evidence. November 2010.Retrieved from www.justice.gov.uk/publications/research.htm Rothbaum, B. O., Kozak, M. J., Foa, E. B., & Whitaker, D. J. 2001. Posttraumatic stress disorder in rape victims: autonomic habituation to auditory stimuli. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 14, pg.283–293. Sally, L. 2012. Anonymity in rape cases. Retrieved from http://www.parliament.uk/briefing papers/SN04746.pdf Sexual offence act 2003.an act to make new provision about sexual offences, their protection and the prevention of children from harm. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jun/01/sexual-offences-act-2003 Soothill, K., Francis, B., Ackerley, E. and Fligelstone, R. 2002. Murder and Serious Sexual Assault: What criminal histories can reveal about future serious offending. Police Research Series Paper 144, London: Home Office Steve. D. 2013.Give suspects in rape cases anonymity to prevent the innocent becoming ‘stigmatized’. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2279959/Maura-McGowan-Give-suspects-rape-cases-anonymity-prevent-innocent-stigmatised-says-barrister.html Taylor and Laura. 2014. The role of human rights in determining whether complainants of sex offence and/or defendants charged with an offence under the sexual offences act 2003 should receive anonymity. Durham theses. Durham University. Thomas, C. 2010. Are juries fair? Ministry of Justice Research Series 1/10, London: Walby, S. and Allen, J. 2004. Domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking: Findings from the British Crime Survey. Home Office Research Study 276, London: Home Office. Read More