Read on Twitter
I've seen commentary that suggests this new offence will have little effect. I disagree for a bunch of reasons, but will save for a longer piece and just elaborate on one particularly egregious effect here, cause frankly I'm hopping mad. CN: sexual violence, cops being awful https://twitter.com/HarrietHarman/status/1278010707750117376
I assume no thought has been given when drafting this offence to rape complainants who enjoy BDSM. I have come into contact with at least a dozen such cases. (There was a period when a friend and I ended up doing victim support work in these cases because no organisation
the women approached could get to grips with the idea that they had said yes to BDSM and no to sex - tho to their credit almost all orgs said they wanted training on how to navigate this). Treatment from the police/CPS is not dissimilar from treatment of sex worker complainants
But with BDSM there is also its historical association with pathology and mental illness on top of 'deviance'. In some cases the victim's testimony was disregarded because she was considered 'mentally unstable' as a result of disclosing her sexual interests, and hence unreliable
In one in particular, even worse, that she was clear she had consented to BDSM but not sex seemed so unfathomable to police that they actually considered pursuing a *false allegation charge against her*.
In the one case that did reach court, the cross-examination focused squarely on her mental health and its link to her enjoyment of BDSM to discredit her. Utterly traumatising for the victim, and no conviction.
The draft offence itself merely puts on a statutory footing what has been settled law for 30 years, BUT: it also makes it all the easier to discredit, humiliate, pathologise, and potentially even criminalise women who say yes to BDSM but no to sex.
One of the barriers to reporting is, of course, that victims are terrified that where their their evidence is that they consented to eg ABH but not to sex, they will be arrested and charged under OAPA. Do I trust the police to use this offence as it's intended? Not for a second
The more we insist it's inconceivable that some women say yes to and enjoy risky sex and bodily harm, the harder we make their lives when they say no.
