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Monday 23 April 2012

Rape Culture - Ched Evans

*Potential trigger warning*

Several years ago, a friend was called up for jury service for a rape trial. He said that despite the fact he and almost all of his fellow jury members believed the man accused of rape was guilty, they were obliged to pass a 'not guilty' verdict as there wasn't enough evidence to convict him. My friend said he went home in tears after the case was closed, feeling that a guilty man had walked free and knowing that a rape survivor had not seen the justice she deserved, and was therefore forced to feel more pain and anger at her treatment.

It is a well known fact that the number of reported rapes is significantly lower than the number of actual rapes. It is also a well known fact that the number of reported rapes that see the alleged rapist convicted is barely above 50%. So it is quite something that last week a jury found footballer Ched Evans guilty after a woman accused him of rape in May 2011. It's not something to celebrate (there's nothing to celebrate about rape), but it is something to acknowledge.

However, some of Evans' fans started the hateful #JusticeForChed hashtag on Twitter, which not only saw his rape survivor named (a criminal offence, as her identity was protected by law), but thousands upon thousands of vile misogynistic messages aimed at the survivor and those supporting her.

Sabotage Times invited me to write an article for them about this, and you can read it by clicking the link here. (NB: That wasn't my headline!)

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