Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by chris_wot 3713 days ago
What do you think should be occurring though? Many women won't report being raped due to being shamed, mocked and threatened and their livelihoods ruined.

Perhaps those being convicted should also be given the same anonymity until after they are found guilty?

1 comments

I think women who falsely reported rape should be charged with slander and pay substantial damages, at least.

> Perhaps those being convicted should also be given the same anonymity until after they are found guilty?

Yes, this would be a huge step forward (especially if both sides respected it). A big problem with rape cases is that both sides have social and professional repercussions regardless of the outcome. If rape cases were entirely sealed for both parties, that would be very helpful.

That would only occur in cases where it can be positively proven that rape did not occur. To avoid conviction the accused must demonstrate that there is reasonable doubt they raped the other party. That means that it is still possible it occurred, but in order to reduce the risk of convicting an innocent person they get to go free. I guess that's the lesser of two evils.

In terms of identifying the accused, Australia has sub judice rules that generally prohibit identifying the accused. I'm surprised that the UK doesn't either, given how closely our systems of law are related!