Music fans, art lovers and injured animal carers were recently horrified to learn they had been listening to and watching a sexual predator. The disgraced TV presenter and entertainer Rolf Harris has been sentenced to five years, nine months in prison for 12 indecent assaults against four girls - one aged between seven or eight. Since judgement has been passed on Harris, Vanessa Feltz has announced that she was assaulted by Harris live on air, only to receive a barrage of abuse online. As Vanessa said when commenting on the hostile reaction she has received: "You think if people react like that, you can see why people don't come forward...I'm 52 and I can handle myself so imagine if I was a seven-year-old child, or 12 or 17...I'm not saying just if it's someone famous, but imagine if it was your dad, uncle or teacher...The kind of reaction I have had, I found so upsetting. I was upset by the outpouring of misogyny and hatred".
I don't need to point out that we seem to have had a slew of celebrity scandals involving brave survivors coming forward. In some cases the accused have been cleared of the charges against them. I don't know if they are innocent or not, but such incidents have caused people to question whether anonymity should be granted to those accused of rape and sexual assault.
Writing in the Telegraph Peter Lloyd stated that anonymity for men accused of rape was "imperative". Citing especially the case of Oxford University student Ben Sullivan who was accused of rape Lloyd said: "the sexist, irrational witch-hunt suffered by Ben Sullivan, the college's Union President, shows that even those destined for greatness aren't above a legal system that currently hates men."
Does the legal system hate men? The legal system that asks women how much they had to drink and what they were wearing when the alleged assault took place. In 2012 the UK was reported to be one of the worst countries in Europe for employing woman judges. As in we don't. You know...that does sound kinda biased.
Writing in the Telegraph Peter Lloyd stated that anonymity for men accused of rape was "imperative". Citing especially the case of Oxford University student Ben Sullivan who was accused of rape Lloyd said: "the sexist, irrational witch-hunt suffered by Ben Sullivan, the college's Union President, shows that even those destined for greatness aren't above a legal system that currently hates men."
Does the legal system hate men? The legal system that asks women how much they had to drink and what they were wearing when the alleged assault took place. In 2012 the UK was reported to be one of the worst countries in Europe for employing woman judges. As in we don't. You know...that does sound kinda biased.
| But why has there been such a slew? It's arguable that once some people were taken seriously by the police reporting one celebrity other survivors realised they were not an isolated case, vitally, they would be believed. Those who survived assault might be galvanised to report their attacker (celebrity or not) because it seems they will be taken seriously. | people have felt compelled to announce their aversion to Vanessa Feltz's looks...You cannot claim innocence based on lack of allure. |
The question, I suppose, is who do we prioritise? The accused or the accuser? In Ben Sullivan's case as Lloyd says himself he was already "destined for greatness". I doubt this has been particularly jeopardised. I haven't noticed a terrible crash in the careers of the other famous men who have received not guilty verdicts Lloyd cites: "Paul Weller, Amy Winehouse's ex-boyfriend Reg Traviss, Nigel Evans MP, William Roache and Craig Charles" (Nigel Evans MP denies climate change - believing it to be a nasty case of sun spots and voted against minimum wage and wants the minimum wage to be optional - that guy's career was always going to be iffy).
Do we ensure that the general public (and media, maybe) are better versed in law? Being sure to keep in mind words such as 'alleged' and not to conflate allegations with evidence. Should we instruct them to accept an innocent verdict and trust jury and judges to have made the right decision? It is difficult to say.
What is most important, surely, is that survivors feel safe to come forward and report the crime that has been committed against them. Survivors have the right to be absolutely sure that they won't have to somehow justify their allegations with, for example, their looks. Many people have felt compelled to announce their aversion to Vanessa Feltz's looks, believing this to prove the implausibility of her claim. You cannot claim innocence based on lack of allure.
Since Vanessa made her claim Linda Nolan has also gone public about an incident when she was 15, alleging that Rolf Harris touched her breasts and licked her neck. There will no doubt be more stories to come out and they will be awful. But they will also, we hope, help those who are afraid to come out as survivors. With anonymity this would not be the case.
Squeamish Kate
Do we ensure that the general public (and media, maybe) are better versed in law? Being sure to keep in mind words such as 'alleged' and not to conflate allegations with evidence. Should we instruct them to accept an innocent verdict and trust jury and judges to have made the right decision? It is difficult to say.
What is most important, surely, is that survivors feel safe to come forward and report the crime that has been committed against them. Survivors have the right to be absolutely sure that they won't have to somehow justify their allegations with, for example, their looks. Many people have felt compelled to announce their aversion to Vanessa Feltz's looks, believing this to prove the implausibility of her claim. You cannot claim innocence based on lack of allure.
Since Vanessa made her claim Linda Nolan has also gone public about an incident when she was 15, alleging that Rolf Harris touched her breasts and licked her neck. There will no doubt be more stories to come out and they will be awful. But they will also, we hope, help those who are afraid to come out as survivors. With anonymity this would not be the case.
Squeamish Kate
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