Rape convictions

To: The Today Programme, BBC Radio 4

Hi -

You (and the government) are on very dangerous grounds when comparing rape conviction rates in this country and others, and assuming higher is better. It is extremely unlikely that like is being compared with like. The proportion of victims coming forward, and the circumstances in which they feel it valid or worthwhile to make a complaint, will depend on different social mores in different places. And legal systems are very different (and again affected by social mores).

For instance, in the US a high proportion of those imprisoned for "rape" are actually punished for statutory rape: consensual intercourse under the age of consent, which is 18 in many states. This is not generally prosecuted at all in the UK, and not usually classified as rape when it is. It isn't at all hard to get a conviction for, since the big problem with rape trials is seldom proving sex but the question of consent, which is wholly avoided when statutory rape is tried. This alone massively increases US conviction rates. Then you need to consider plea bargaining...


Yours truly

--
Guy E S Herbert