Denied justice, Once again.

In the year of 2018 only 3.3% of rape cases reported resulted in convictions. With this figure being next to none, it posed the question of what was happening to the girls who weren’t getting the justice they truly deserved? Another statistic cropped up after the emphasis on the #metoo movement in the press, it was that rape offences that have been reported are now at the highest 65%, 55,195. This led me to think that so many individuals are gaining the courage to reach out to get help with their cases but instead are being turned away.

I’ve just gone to one of my friends’ houses, not expecting much as it’s a common occurrence. This article in the back of my mind as I know, that if I dwell on this great issue of young girls being stamped on when seeking justice, it will just make me angry. I propose it to Emma and her sister, Amy. Almost immediately they wanted to speak out about this but have never had the opportunity. When Amy was 14 she was raped by one of her best friends’ boyfriends. The incident became public knowledge soon after, she quickly became humiliated as the situation was twisted to hot gossip,

“In a way I wanted people to know that I didn’t want it but then if i said i didn’t want it, it would’ve been rape. I didn’t want that attention from anyone, but she told everyone.”

Soon after her mental health began to spiral as well as her school attendance nearly at zero affecting her achievement. Her school at the time informed the local police, where the case was processed through a basic investigation. She was told she had a strong case for court. However due to the intrusive and demanding process of her being intensively questioned, and even her phone being given over to the police, she realised pretty quickly that she wasn’t going to be able to handle it. In our conversation she referenced suicidal thoughts,

“I lost friends as well and so I was on the verge of basically I didn’t, this sounds really deep but I just didn’t want to be alive, I was depressed” as well as the great strain that had been put on her family, she had to withdraw the case.

The police didn’t want to help or support Amy through continuing the case, the only option left was for her to seek privatised therapy and counselling.

It is extremely clear that there is no correlation between the treatment from police regarding rape investigations and the level of trauma and emotional strain a victim does go through. In an attempt for change, there needs to be some sort of progression in the way of how even if a case may not be considered for court, these young girls are not left to suffer in silence. Many of the girls I spoke with like Amy and Emma felt they wanted an outlet, a group to speak out and connect with other girls who have been in the same situations.

Whilst doing my research and speaking face to face with these victims, I found the reccuring theme of unusual hierarchy when it came to sexual assault. Where those who go through ‘low-level’ sexual harassment or assault should stay passive and I guess not let it effect their daily lives. The big ‘R’ word comes with a stigmatised shame and embarrassment and permanently damages someone.

This concept made me realise it was a type of coping mechanism for those who experienced those ‘low-level’ instances. However I just couldn’t understand how the misconception that all cases don’t have equal worth and significance was created. When speaking to Hayley and Camille they kept referencing that their cases weren’t of any importance. They didn’t see the value of speaking out as these were expected and common situations that came with growing up as a teenage girl in today’s society. Overall in 2018, victims were most likely to say that they did not report the incident to the police out of embarrassment (44%). Victims also thought the police could not help (33%), that it would be humiliating (33%), and didn’t think the police would believe them (25%).

In Hayley’s instance she was inappropriately touched up at a gathering which made her feel incredibly uncomfortable. At the time she had a boyfriend and the guy in question was a friend of hers. She told the girls she was with, who were horrified however they didn’t explicitly question his actions there and then but instead moved across the room in an attempt to get away. The fact that he wasn’t confronted, immediately justifies the way he acted. This is of no discredit to Hayley but it just shows how events like these are normalised and girls would rather not make a fuss and experience the shame and embarrassment that comes with the situation.

A Visible shift

I wanted to give light to how attitudes have changed over the last 30 odd years. Speaking to my mum and her friends who were teenagers in the 90’s, highlighting the repeated overbearing hyper masculinity and lad culture that occurred.

The even thought of ‘sexual assault’ was a joke and to be accepted, as why would you question it when it’s supposedly a norm. After some research gender roles were still pretty enforced meaning men would most probably be in blue-collared jobs and laddish cultures were continued. As well as this fashion and culture took over, the model world boomed and the world of celebrities was created, this meant sexualisation and objectification in the media. Like most things this trickled it’s way down into society and therefore it was accepted.

These teens at the time would still talk about it amongst themselves. But most of the time it would turn to gossip and boys were part of a status similar to their prominence today amidst teenage girls.

One incident that was reflective of the time was how on many occasions, clubbing underage was a popular good time, back then you did just get away with it- extra eyeliner on, shorter skirt and your older sisters’ ID you knew you’d get in no question.This did cause problems, you’d get approached, touched up, assaulted by older men who thought you were over 18. This doesn’t take away from the fact it was still very much wrong. But it did then cause all these girls to never report or speak out to any authority including their families, they thought their own ‘crime’ was much worse and blamed themselves for getting in those difficult positions.

They did discuss the development of values towards these topics and how movements like ‘me too’ and ‘times up’ really have contributed to allowing everyday women to speak out. As well as those in toxic industries to address and highlight the sheer masses of these incidents. One thing that did stand out, ‘the cloud of disgust’ that now hangs over these topics. At least the victims and individuals in society are now repulsed somewhat by sexual crime. Ideally we need the police to be as angered by it, but right now their priorities lay elsewhere. Hopefully ‘shame’ and ‘embarrassment’ will shift to the perpetrators and we can socialise boys to behave differently for our future generation. “I didn’t then, but now i think there’s fight in me.”