Tag Archives: Scotland

Scotland Rejects Proposal to Preserve Anonymity of Men Accused of Rape

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The BBC reports that a committee of Scotland’s parliament unanimously rejected a proposal to grant anonymity to men accused of rape until their guilt is proven in court.

The proposal was submitted by the UK Men’s Movement which argues that men accused of rape need anonymity to avoid the stigma that even false allegations of rape can have on innocent men. UK Men’s Movement spokesman George McAulay said in September of a similar proposal introduced by his group,

We are alarmed by the proliferation of false rape allegations, and the seeming indifference with which the authorities treat this offence, often not prosecuting even when there was a prima facie case of false allegation to answer, and even when the accuser admitted it was a complete fabrication.

False rape claims may be made for a number of reasons, the most common being revenge, attention-seeking, malice, fiscal reward via the Criminal Injuries Board or civil suit, and advantage in marital disputes now that prosecutions are made for rape in marriage.

According to the BBC, the committee that voted to reject the idea argued that “the move would discourage women from coming forward.”

McAulay responded that the Scottish Parliament’s doesn’t seriously its own goal of ensuring sexual equality,

This parliament and this executive make much noise about their commitment to equality, but I have seen little of it with regard to men. We ask that an accused who may be innocent is given the same anonymity as their accuser, who may be malicious.

Unlike in the United States, it is generally illegal in the UK to publish the name of accusers in rape cases. In the United States, the Supreme Court has upheld the right the media to publish the name of rape accusers, but by custom most do not.

In general, the ideal would be equal treatment — if an outlet is not going to name the accuser, then don’t name the accused. If they’re going to name the accused, they should also name the accuser (except where minors are involved on either side).

Sources:

Rape case protection bid rejected The BBC, January 7, 2004.

Minister to hear rape plea. The BBC, September 26, 2000.

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Efforts to Criminalize Male Rape in Scotland

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In Scotland police are investigating a number of sexual assaults on men perpetrated by what is believe to be a small gang. But under Scottish law, raping a man is not recognized as a crime.

Under Scotland’s definition of rape — which goes back to 1844 — rape is a crime which involves only a man sexually assaulting a woman. The perpetrators of this and other sexual assaults against men could be charged with assault, sodomy or possibly robbery if they stole from their victims, but not rape. And apparently, the maximum sentence for a first offense sodomy conviction is a mere three months.

The English legal system formally incorporated a gender-free definition of rape in 1996, but Scotland has yet to make that change, despite estimates that at least 400 men are victims of sexual assaults annually. That figure is likely higher since Scotland doesn’t keep statistics on the gender of sexual assault victims.

Keith Cowan, a spokesman for gay rights group Outright Scotland, has been trying to have the law changed. He told The Sunday Herald,

Rape is considered by the justice system to be much more serious than indecent assault or sodomy. The crime of sodomy confuses the very serious offence of male rape with the minor offence of consensual sex between men, which did not happen in a private place.

A crime as serious as male rape should carry an unambiguous and recognized rape charge so that it is clear from the charge, and from the record of any conviction, how serious the offence is. It must also be included in sexual assault statistics.

Such a change would seem to be a pretty straightforward, sensible thing to do. Why the law hasn’t already been changed is a bit mystifying.

Sources:

Law failing victims of male rape. By Neil Mackay and Liam McDougall, Sunday Herald (Scotland), October 5, 2003.

Call for new laws after male sex attacks. Stephen Khan, The Observer, October 12, 2003.

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Controversy Over Sexuality Materials for Schools in Great Britain and Scotland

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Controversy erupted in Great Britain and Scotland in September over materials related to same-sex relationships targeted at primary school children.

In Scotland, Catholic groups and others were angered by a project that uses dolls to teach tolerance for, among other groups, homosexual couples.

The so-called Persona Dolls were funded by Lesbian Mothers Scotland. According to a report in the Edinburgh News, educators bring the dolls to school and use them to tell stories to help children “unlearn discriminatory attitudes and behaviors.

Meanwhile the Daily Telegraph reported on a controversy in Great Britain over a pamphlet published by the government-funded Family Planning Association.

The pamphlet, “4 You,” is targeted at 9-11 years old, but includes material that some believe is inappropriate for that age group. Among other things, the pamphlet includes a cartoon depicting a young girl masturbating in the bath, a diagram showing the location of the clitoris, and the admonition that it’s “totally normal” to be attracted to members of the same sex.

Sources:

Primary pupils to get lesbian doll lessons. Jason Cumming, Edinburgh News, September 26, 2003.

Attack on children’s cartoon sex guide. Sarah Womak, Daily Telegraph, September 27, 2003.

The explicit sex guide aimed at nine-year-olds. Laura Clark, Daily Mail, September 27, 2003.

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Study of High Dose Oral Contraceptives Finds Low Death Rates

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When the first oral contraceptives were introduced in the 1970s, they used relatively high doses of estrogen. Acting on the widely held view that lower doses of estrogen were safer, pharmaceutical companies gradually replaced the high dose pills with low dose versions. A new study of women who took high dose oral contraceptives, however, suggest that the concern over the high dose pills was misplaced.

Researchers at the Oxford Family Planning Association studied 17,032 women who visited family planning clinics in England and Scotland from 1968 to 1974.

Of the women how used high dose oral contraceptive, the death rate was actually 11 percent lower than for women who did not use high dose oral contraceptives. Due to the uncertainties in epidemic studies, that should not be read as implying that high dose contraceptives had a protective effect, but rather that their effect on the total death rate is not significant.

Which is not to say that high dose oral contraceptives might not contribute to some diseases. The study found that users of high dose oral contraceptives had much higher death rates from cervical cancer than non-users. But this was more than offset by a far lower risk of ovarian and other uterine cancers among users of high dose oral contraceptives.

The study confirmed that the major risk factor among the women in the study, both users and non-users of high dose oral contraceptives. Heavy smokers in the study had a death rate 100 percent higher than that of non-smokers.

Source:

Death rate low in former oral contraceptive users. Karla Gale, Reuters Health, July 18, 2003.

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Scottish Men Sue Over Dress Code

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Following the lead of an English civil servant, almost a thousand Scottish civil servants have filed complaints charging that dress codes requiring they wear shirts and ties constitute sex discrimination.

Staff members at Scotland’s Department of Work and Pension argue that since their jobs do not bring them into contact with the public, it is sexist to force them to wear shirts and ties while women are allowed to wear less formal attire.

The Scotsman quoted employment lawyer Euan Smith as saying that the men likely had a strong case,

I see no reason why they won’t win their case. The question is whether they [the employers] also apply similar conditions to the women.

I suspect it stems from the hot weather. Where it is roasting hot, if you insist on men wearing shirts and ties in the office and women are in T-shirts and jeans, it must be annoying for them.

Source:

Men take employers to court over dress code. Tanya Thompson, The Scotsman, July 16, 2003.

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Feminists In Scotland Forced to Withdraw Domestic Violence Ad

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Many European countries have boards that monitor advertising and occasionally force advertisers to rewrite or withdraw advertisements that these boards consider to be deceptive. In Scotland, Scottish Women’s Aid was forced to withdraw and rewrite an ad publicizing the threat of domestic violence.

The group had published a poster claiming that “one in five women in Scotland live with the constant threat of abuse.” The Scottish Advertising Standards Authority ruled that this claim was not supported by the study cited by Scottish Women’s Aid and forced the ad to be removed from newspapers and billboards until it could be corrected.

The new text of the ad, which the Advertising Standards Authority signed off on, now states that “A recent survey suggests that one in five women in Scotland have experienced domestic abuse.”

The feminists were outraged at the change, with Scottish Women’s Aid training support worker Liz Kelly telling Scotland on Sunday, “The time spent discussing [the ad] . . . would have been better spent on providing better services to abused women and their children.”

On the one hand, the existence of such boards is ridiculous. The solution to feminist misuse and misrepresentation of statistics is to point out there abuse, not censor them wholesale. On the other hand, while feminists in Europe tend to complain when ad boards rule against them, they usually have no problem running to advertising authorities to try to have ads they think are sexist or demeaning to women withdrawn at a moment’s notice, so it’s hard to generate any deep sympathy for them.

Source:

Ruling on domestic abuse adverts branded ‘childish’. Karen Rice, Scotland on Sunday, March 31, 2002.

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