If you’ve been paying attention to certain sections of the media recently, you might be under the impression that people are constantly leaping at the opportunity to falsely accuse innocent men of everything from groping to rape.
From articles asking ‘has Me Too gone too far’ in virtually every major publication, to extensive coverage of a handful of men whose charges have been overturned, the idea that men are at constant risk from a witch hunt seems to be everywhere.
It is in that context that Cliff Richard and Paul Gambaccini have renewed their campaign to give those accused of sexual offences anonymity until the point that a charge is made. In TV interviews they have talked passionately about ‘rebalancing’ the legal system, which they claim is currently stacked against the accused.
The thing is, this is fundamentally untrue. Or rather, they are right that our legal system is incredibly unbalanced, but it is not unbalanced in the way they suggest.
For a start, the idea that false accusations are common is a myth (albeit a very persistent one). Rates of false accusation are no higher than for any other crime, making up just 0.62 percent of all rape cases according to CPS figures. In fact, it is estimated that a man is around 230 times more likely to be raped than to be falsely accused of rape. If we really want our criminal justice system to protect men, surely that is the bigger issue.
In England and Wales, an estimated 12,000 men between the ages of 18 and 59 experience rape or serious sexual assault every year. For women that figure is over five times higher, at 85,000. And yet, far from these crimes being over-reported, only 10-15% of survivors choose to report their attacker to the police. This reluctance to report such a traumatic experience is understandable when you look at how few survivors can expect to receive justice: Last year a staggering 98.3% of reported rapes did not even make it to court.
The UK is experiencing a ten year low in conviction rates for sexual offences. Far from taking this seriously, the CPS has allegedly changed its rape prosecution guidelines, allowing prosecutors to drop cases if they feel that jury prejudices will prevent a conviction. In one instance, the CPS decided a woman was too articulate and assertive, meaning that a jury would struggle to understand why she delayed reporting her allegation. In another, they dropped a case despite the fact that the accused had written WhatsApp messages in which he admitted his crime. By pandering to rape myths like this, our legal system is denying justice to thousands.
No one is denying that being falsely accused of a sexual offence can be a traumatic experience. Cliff Richard, Paul Gambaccini and others who have suffered a similar ordeal are understandably distressed and angry. But this doesn’t warrant a whole-scale change of our legal system, not least because pre-charge anonymity is already protected in most cases anyway.
As it stands, police guidance states that people under investigation for an offence should not be named before they are charged unless there is a “legitimate policing purpose to do so”. Where possible, therefore, men (and it is mainly men) are already protected until the point where there is enough evidence to press charges. But in certain situations, naming a suspect can be crucial for an investigation, allowing witnesses to come forward for both the accuser and the accused.
This should be evident from just a brief look at recent high profile cases: if they had not been publicly named, it is unlikely that the scale of the crimes committed by Rolf Harris or Stuart Hall would have come to light. If accusations against John Worboys or Jimmy Savile had been made public earlier, then hundreds of women and children might have been spared sexual assaults and rape. Without the publicity of high profile public accusations, men implicated by the Me Too movement might never have been brought to justice.
None of this is to say that trial by media is a fair or effective means of achieving convictions. Our media has an appalling track record of sensationalising sexual violence in a way that hurts both the accused and the accuser. But the answer to that is to change our media culture, not our criminal justice system.
There is an epidemic of sexual violence in the UK and yet survivors already face huge barriers when they seek justice. The Women’s Equality Party will continue to campaign to improve conviction rates, so that all survivors have the chance for justice. In the meantime, protecting those they accuse with stricter rules than are applied for any other offence will not re-balance the system, it will only throw it further off kilter.
Tabitha Morton is the Women’s Equality Party spokesperson on violence against women and girls