She claims she was “emotionally blackmailed” by her estranged husband and his family. After being threatened with a jail sentence of up to two years, for making false rape allegations, the women reverted back to her original story.
She was given the eight-month sentence by Judge John Rogers QC for “perverting the course of justice”. Her permission to appeal her sentence was refused and she remains incarcerated with no chance of bail. All charges against her husband have since been dropped.Well, if that isn’t a kick in the face.
This woman appears to have been systematically intimidated (emotional blackmail, threat of imprisonment and the loss of her children) throughout the case. Despite the pressures women come under from the perpetrators and the police during the legal process, instead of being extended the compassion of the court and offered support she has been imprisoned. It is a cold and regressive message about the criminal justice system to all victims of sexual violence.
There has long been a taboo surrounding the rape of women. There’s still the myth that women who cry rape were “asking for it” or had led the offender on in some way. There is also the belief maintained by some (mentally stunted) people that a man cannot rape his wife, sex is his marital right. Such misconceptions about sexual violence and a woman’s fear of not being believed means that thousands of sexual assaults and rapes go unreported and every year this number increases.
Statistics suggest that only around 6% of reported rapes result in a conviction. Most rape cases result in “no further action” if the complainant and suspect know each other or have been previously intimate. Such disturbing statistics compounded with the ruling passed by Judge Rogers, is there any wonder why rape victims are so reluctant to come forward?
What gets me most about this case is the fact that the CPS dropped all charges against the woman’s husband. Her family have told the press that she had been in an "abusive" and "volatile" relationship for ten years. The police had been called out numerous times to the couple's home; on the day of the alleged attack a restraining order against the husband had just been lifted.
The woman at the centre of this ordeal has still not received counsellng and the spotlight remains on her “perverting the course of justice”. Her husband who allegedly raped her repeatedly, is swanning around scot-free and unlikely to ever face trial. Is this justice?
Aptly labelled “Disney's Spawn”, Storme Paul is currently in the second year of her Writing and English degree. When she isn’t being made to hold her tongue, the self-confessed aesthete can be found in all her political incorrectness on Twitter or sharing on her blog.
