Mrs Y was raped whilst sleeping having drunk substantial amounts of alcohol. The accused – a friend of a friend - was acquitted in court. Compensation was initially refused on the grounds that "no crime of violence" had taken place. The compensation Board wrote that "the reactions of Mrs Y were not, as she acknowledges, demonstrably unwelcoming for some time, albeit measured in minutes. She had given him "no signal of absence of consent" (until she woke up fully and threw him off the bed). WAR wrote to the CICA and represented her at appeal, arguing that it goes against the principle of rape law that the absence of a "signal" meant he could take advantage of her while she was asleep. We also objected to their saying "there is an indication of a relationship having developed in which it was not unreasonable for the defendant to at least consider that the exchanges might progress to sexual intimacy". The Appeal Panel (two women and a man) asked her about the quality of her sex life with her husband and (a tee-totaller who said he knew nothing about alcohol) suggested she was so drunk she couldn’t say whether or not she had consented. Despite this, she won £7,500.
