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Matthew Parris

‘Rape is rape’ serves no one well, least of all rape victims

The reason there are so many acquittals is that juries reach ‘perverse’ verdicts when they are uneasy about the law itself

6 September 2014

9:00 AM

6 September 2014

9:00 AM

When Mary Jane Mowat remarked recently that rape conviction statistics would not improve ‘until women stop getting so drunk,’ the retired Crown Court judge knew there would be a row. It followed.

The judge, knowing that only 60 per cent of rape charges that reach court end in conviction, was making a narrow point.

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