Legal Letdown: The 17 Year Old Rape Victim that Could Head to ...

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While many would cry out that the ?law has gone wrong? and proclaim a ?miscarriage of justice? it is far more terrifying, to realize that this is the ?law gone right?.

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17-year-old Savannah Dietrich was repeated sexually assaulted while unconscious. Her attackers posted the photos on the internet where they spread quickly and are now impossible to remove.

She was shocked to hear that her attackers had reached a leinient plea deal with the prosecution in Juvenile Court where all proceedings are subject to confidentiality. In retaliation, she took it upon herself to tweet their names and with that, she has tweeted herself into contempt of court and possibly jail.

While many would cry out that the ?law has gone wrong? and proclaim a ?miscarriage of justice? it is far more terrifying, to realize that this is the ?law gone right?.

There is no miscarriage of justice here. This is simply how the law and current criminal justice system works. It is these ?law gone right? cases that troubled me during law school and the reason why I could never bring myself to join, like 99% of my classmates, the legal professional.

While now ten years later from sitting in Criminal Law lectures there are still some horrifying cases that stick out particularly in the area of violence against women, for example, the acquittal of three men who repeated raped a woman because her own husband told them that, even if she resisted, and resisted she did, she liked things ?kinky? (DPP v Morgan).

Another example is the ??crimes of passion? defense that men have used successful to avoid murder convictions when they kill their wives after finding out, for example, they have been cheating.

While these three legal examples are academically unrelated, they show a pattern that the justice system is trying very hard to ignore. Violence against women remains near impossible to successfully prosecute, and even when they are, the full penalty of the law is rarely applied. It is unsurprising that one survey from the UK?found that 80% of sexually assaults against women are unreported. In this kind of legal environment, why would any woman bother?

The fact that Savannah could even get a successful conviction makes her case an exception. It seems, though, that she is not satisfied. We shouldn?t be either. We must start to see and advocate for the bigger picture by recognizing patterns like these in our houses of legislation, our court system and our society.

What can you do:

1. Ensure that you and your peers always report any violence to the police as soon as possible. If you can?t do it for yourself then do it for other women. Unreported cases are invisible and, therefore, can?t push the agenda.
2. Tweet, comment and share stories you see where violence against women was devalued or ignored. Ours is a generation of grass-roots activism.
3. Keep an eye out for legislation that is up and coming in this area and make sure you contact your elected representatives and highlight it. Ours is also a generation of apathy so, when you do actually make a call it makes more impact that you think.

With deep gratitude to my Law Professors at the University of Nottingham: Peter Bartlett, Ralph Saunders and Diane Birch who taught me far more than law.?

Help us push this agenda and support women like Savannah by liking, sharing and commenting on this post with your friends.?

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Source: http://www.reclaimingpink.com/legal-letdown-the-17-year-old-rape-victim-that-could-head-to-jail-before-those-who-raped-her/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=legal-letdown-the-17-year-old-rape-victim-that-could-head-to-jail-before-those-who-raped-her

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