Domestic violence

Lord chief justice says there is important distinction between false allegation of rape and false retraction of rape allegation

Helen Pidd
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 23 November 2010 14.43 GMT

The lord chief justice, Lord Judge, said the judiciary had a 'duty of compassion for a woman who had already been victimised'. Photograph: Tim Rooke/Rex Features

The most senior judge in England and Wales today freed a mother who had been jailed for retracting "truthful" allegations that she had been raped by her husband.

Overturning her eight-month sentence, Lord Judge, the lord chief justice, criticised the Crown Prosecution Service's decision to prosecute the 28-year-old woman, who he accepted had been the victim of prolonged domestic abuse and been put under pressure by her husband to withdraw the allegations. Judge said there should be "a broad measure of compassion for a woman who had already been victimised".

Guardian Letters, 29 Nov 2010

The prosecution of "Sarah", jailed for making a "false retraction" after years of maritalrape and abuse, screams injustice (She accused her husband of rape – and ended up in jail, 27 November). Why was she prosecuted? Why wasn't her sentence quashed? And why can't her rapist husband, who kept the children and the flat, be prosecuted now before he reoffends?

SUSPENDED

With Silvers Solicitors @ Crossroads Women's Centre in Kentish Town
12 – 1.30pm
Last Monday of every month
(Pop in or call for appointment.)

Since 1976 WAR has been providing support & legal advocacy to women and girls escaping violence, and campaigning for protection from the criminal justice system. We have:
* Won legal recognition that rape in marriage is a crime.
* Helped bring the first successful private prosecution for rape.
* Won compensation for women discriminated against because they were sex workers, had a health condition or a criminal record, were drunk or on drugs…
* Won recognition that women claiming asylum may have been too traumatised to report rape, and are entitled to present "fresh evidence".
* Helped a rape survivor win £38,000 compensation for illegal detention.

$1million awarded to family of California woman shot dead by her husband - 18 calls to Sheriff's Dept never resulted in arrest

WOMENSENEWS 19 June 2002
www.womensenews.org  By Rebecca Vesely - WEnews correspondent

SAN FRANCISCO (WOMENSENEWS)--A ground-breaking domestic violence case was settled out of court for $1 million Tuesday, marking the first time that monetary damages have been awarded by an American law enforcement agency to the family of a domestic violence victim, advocates said.

Maria Teresa Macias, 36, was shot to death by her estranged husband Avelino Macias in 1996 in Sonoma, Calif., before he turned the gun on himself. In the months leading up to her death, she contacted the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department at least 18 times seeking protection from her increasingly abusive husband. Despite at least eight violations of a restraining order for stalking, Avelino Macias was never arrested or detained.

Domestic violence - more common than street violence Children suffer harm and untold distress Most violence is not reported, and not acted upon when reported No money, nowhere to go Child Support Act has increased violence against women and children REFERENCES Domestic violence - more common than street violence