Not taken much notice of the rape trial involving Irish rugby players until today that is. Demonstrations following acquittal are rare and apparently there were demonstrations in Ireland following a twitter trend #ibelieveher. Obviously trial by media is not fair but people following the case seem to think this woman should be believed. The rape conviction rate remains low. 'A third of people believe women who flirt are partially responsible for being raped (Amnesty, 2005)
Conviction rates for rape are far lower than other crimes, with only 5.7% of reported rape cases ending in a conviction for the perpetrator. (Kelly, Lovett and Regan, A gap or a chasm? Attrition in reported rape cases, 2005)' The woman who brought the complaint was cross examined for 8 days. How many women could stand that level of pressure?
I do sometimes think that things have not really changed that much.
