ONE BILLION RISING. Will you give your support to women across the planet on 14 February?

Northampton - getting closer. Anyone else fancy a dance in Northampton?

This is very encouraging, when. I hope a couple of more weeks in the media spotlight will continue to inspire even more people to participate in this most worthwhile and important Day of Dance.

One Billion Rising events shown here. Last week there were just a few events arranged, and now it has multiplied. Still a couple of weeks to go, so there's bound to be even more by Feb 14.

www.onebillionrising.org/page/event/search_results?orderby=day&state&country=GB&limit=100&radius_unit=mi

European Parliament News
Members flash-mobbed Parliament today together with The Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler to show they oppose violence against women. If you want to join, you still have the chance on February 14, when the event goes global. Read more about One Billion Rising @ epfacebook.eu/Qw and share the photo to support the cause!

When with reference to your second para. - I had never thought of it like that but can see that a recorded admission of guilt is a marginally better outcome than having the case 'no crimed' or dropped for lack of verifiable evidence.

Back to the event One Billion Rising. Many more videos being put on Facebook. How to organise a flash-mob event, how to do different dances, where to find a local event. Mumsnet has lots of info. Time for Gransnet to formalise involvement? I know GNHQ have been approached.

Yes, I was saying the same thing absent Low level offending like shop theft is a very different matter from sexual offences that are viewed by the police as low level. The thinking and intention of the offender can be sinister. Practising for putting fantasies into action, networking for future conact with paedophiles, creating 'accidental' exposure incidents which become a ten times a day habit - police can't be aware of intentions if they are happy to accept an offender saying 'yeah, sorry, didn't mean it, won't do it again). In-depth assessments are needed for that.

The one thing I would say in favour of SOME of these cautions is that the police do obtain and record an admission of guilt in order to caution. If a solicitor comes along and convinces them that they haven't got a cat in hell's chance of getting a guilty verdict, the offender won't plead guilty if they try it (but they will accept a caution), if taken to court remand in custody will be opposed, or a period of remand will mean a walk-out if the guilty verdict results in a few weeks custody, on balance the caution will be implemented immediately and any further suspicions will be acted on, searches and seizures of potental evidence will easier to carry out, and an existing guilty admission will undermine further attempts to avoid prosecution.

Not necessarily directly relevant to this thread when but to indicate the level of concern about police cautions, one in four violent offenders –14,000 people – were given police cautions rather than being prosecuted. So I am afraid I am not wholly convinced about the "low level" of the sex offenders. In any case, as you point out, their behaviour often becomes more dangerous.

Bump.

The sex offences referred to will be incidents like downloading obscene images at 'level one' (not for distribution and in small amounts), indecent exposure, and other 'hands-off' offences, such as masturbating in the presence of a young person but not talking to them, and such similar behaviour. The police should NOT be the ones who assess the offence and decide whether it should be prosecuted. Cautions go on record and are counted for CRB checks, and in future psychological risk assessments.

I have come across many sex offenders whose first offences were not addressed and their behaviour became more dangerous. All the behaviour complained about had been kept on record. If only it had been taken seriously in the first place.

With regard to "improvement" in the way the law in this country handles sexual offences, a senior magistrate was reported yesterday as being very concerned that the police are abusing the use of police cautions to avoid having to do too much paperwork. Police cautions were introduced to deal with minor offences such as vandalism. The laudable intention was to give young people, in particular, who committed minor crimes a serious warning but not send them to court.

In the year to last June, one in five sex offenders – 1,400 people – were given police cautions. It is likely that these were mainly men committing offences against women.

Precisely, which is why I bumped it! Told DGD (16) about it and she is fired up too.

It got hijacked gracesmum but hopefully we are now back on track and wary of attempts to wind us up or create mischief.

Yes - what has put a stop to this thread? Maybe it is the cynical fear that it will go off at a tangent which has no very little relevance?
Obfuscation, perhaps?

Bump. Too important to lose.

interesting article

Improved a little j but where have you been living? The conviction rates are a joke.

I think things have improved in recent times.

Seems a bit hard on employers if people in this country walk out of their work over something that is happening in other countries. Like I say, rape is despised in this country and victims already have recourse to the law.

j07 You are very sadly misinformed if you believe that the law in this country [UK] "takes rape very seriously". Women don't report it for fear of disbelief; policemen don't record it because they think they won't get a conviction so it doesn't count towards their targets; courts don't convict because jurors believe myths about it. There are thousands of female victims in this country who have never seen and will never see justice for the terrible assaults that they have suffered.

Yes, the law lays down what actions you can be prosecuted for. Attitudes are harder to legislate for.

jingl, the law may, as you say, be strict on sexual offences in this country, but the campaign isn't aimed at changing the law (not here, anyway) but also attitudes to women both here and worldwide.

I think I've mixed the threads up.

roflmao

How did that happen?

But not at all incoherent.

" people do bump into each other in exercise classes but women do bump into women and I have had women bump into me by going the wrong way. I have knocked into women but I have never done any injury"

Sounds fun!