August 2009 Archives
So. Ken is en route back to JFK as I type, a bit over halfway I guess. In the time he was here, we covered nearly 1,500 miles, taking in Manchester, Inverness, Dumfries, Blackpool, Loch Ness and several points inbetween. We spent a night under canvas and got bitten by the midgies (I have a few red lumpy bites on my neck near my ears now), we paddled in the sea and the Firth of Clyde, we got stuck on the same stretch of the Manchester ring road for a couple of hours, we saw meteors and rescued frogs from being smooshed. We didn't see Nessie at Urquhart Castle and we looked at Degas paintings in the Burrell Collection. And we cuddled lots.
Also, we're now into our second year of being married to one another.
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If I was to be applying for British Citizenship, I'd fail the test. Just as well I'm applying for a US visa; the way things are looking, in just a few years getting a UK visa will be contingient on passing these tests, if the Tories, New Labour and the BNP and various other right-wing organisations get their collective way. What is Britishness, anyway? Besides drinking a lot of black tea and driving on the left side of the road, what is truly British? I can tell you what's Scottish, and to a certain extent, what's Welsh. Englishness, of course, is read as synonymous with Britishness; that involves 1966, hating the French (historically allies of the Scots), drinking warm beer, Routemasters, Big Ben, 1066, kings that invented divorce and generally being arrogant and shitty towards their geographical neighbours at some point in history.
Anyway. I feel a bit in limbo, not being able to talk to Ken.
Also, we're now into our second year of being married to one another.
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If I was to be applying for British Citizenship, I'd fail the test. Just as well I'm applying for a US visa; the way things are looking, in just a few years getting a UK visa will be contingient on passing these tests, if the Tories, New Labour and the BNP and various other right-wing organisations get their collective way. What is Britishness, anyway? Besides drinking a lot of black tea and driving on the left side of the road, what is truly British? I can tell you what's Scottish, and to a certain extent, what's Welsh. Englishness, of course, is read as synonymous with Britishness; that involves 1966, hating the French (historically allies of the Scots), drinking warm beer, Routemasters, Big Ben, 1066, kings that invented divorce and generally being arrogant and shitty towards their geographical neighbours at some point in history.
Anyway. I feel a bit in limbo, not being able to talk to Ken.
The Scottish Government has stated, on the record, that rape conviction rates (fewer than 10% of all reported rapes are prosecuted in court) need to be higher. As a matter of interest, I agree. The divergence in opinion though, is how to go about it.
"It is obvious that much more needs to be done to improve the prosecution levels for cases of rape in Scotland."
He [Robert Brown, Lib Dem justice spokesperson] added: "It is not the place of politicians to interfere with the legal process, which must continue to allow a fair trial to people accused of rape. But the government must make sure that victims of any rape can have confidence that their case will be taken seriously, they will be treated with sympathy, and everything possible will be done to bring justified and provable cases to court."
It's dangerous to merely say that the conviction or prosecution rate needs to rise, without challenging the real problem of attitudes to rape that underlie the poor prosecution rates. In the comments on the link Scotsman article, there are a few comments already which trot out the usual 'ah, buts'; that alcohol confuses the issue, that prior consensual sexual activity means it's not rape (as consensual kissing is blanket agreement to all possible permutations of sexual activity) and the notion that increasing the prosection rate will lead to innocent men being sent down and tarred for life as rapists. None of that helps the real issue at hand; that hundreds of women in Scotland (and men, the sex of the victims is not stated) will not see justice for the crime commited against their person. Many people seem so invested in protecting the poor, poor menz from false accusations that they forget about all the people against whom a real, actual, serious crime has been committed.
If the Government seriously wants to improve justice for victims of rape, they need to lead the way in breaking down the myths and keep the focus on changing attitudes about rape and not letting the attention be pulled to the vanishingly small number of people who might have a false allegation made against them.
"It is obvious that much more needs to be done to improve the prosecution levels for cases of rape in Scotland."
He [Robert Brown, Lib Dem justice spokesperson] added: "It is not the place of politicians to interfere with the legal process, which must continue to allow a fair trial to people accused of rape. But the government must make sure that victims of any rape can have confidence that their case will be taken seriously, they will be treated with sympathy, and everything possible will be done to bring justified and provable cases to court."
It's dangerous to merely say that the conviction or prosecution rate needs to rise, without challenging the real problem of attitudes to rape that underlie the poor prosecution rates. In the comments on the link Scotsman article, there are a few comments already which trot out the usual 'ah, buts'; that alcohol confuses the issue, that prior consensual sexual activity means it's not rape (as consensual kissing is blanket agreement to all possible permutations of sexual activity) and the notion that increasing the prosection rate will lead to innocent men being sent down and tarred for life as rapists. None of that helps the real issue at hand; that hundreds of women in Scotland (and men, the sex of the victims is not stated) will not see justice for the crime commited against their person. Many people seem so invested in protecting the poor, poor menz from false accusations that they forget about all the people against whom a real, actual, serious crime has been committed.
If the Government seriously wants to improve justice for victims of rape, they need to lead the way in breaking down the myths and keep the focus on changing attitudes about rape and not letting the attention be pulled to the vanishingly small number of people who might have a false allegation made against them.
