Dozens more rape victims have had their compensation payments cut because they had been drinking when they were attacked, it emerged yesterday.

 

The disclosure came as ministers called on the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to give full payouts to 14 rape victims whose awards were reduced last year.

Although a full trawl of awards to rape victims in recent years has not been completed, The Times has learnt that the final figure for victims whose compensation was cut because they had been drinking is expected to increase, though it is thought to be under a hundred.

 

Bridget Prentice, a junior Justice minister, called for automatic reviews of the payouts to the 14 after one woman had her £11,000 compensation cut by 25 per cent because the authority ruled that excessive drinking was a contributory factor. Ms Prentice said that the authority should review automatically cases where women had been told that their alcohol consumption had contributed to the attack.

 

She said it was absolutely clear that that should not have happened. “As far as we in the Government are concerned, a victim of rape is not in any way at all culpable due to alcohol consumption.

 

“I hope that the compensation authority will look at these other cases that they believe may also have had the guidelines misinterpreted and review them, without the victims themselves having to go back and ask for that review.”

 

The authority was resisting government pressure, insisting yesterday that a request for a review had to be made in writing by the applicant within 90 days of receiving the compensation decision.

 

A statement from the authority said: “The mechanism is in place for all applicants to express that they are not content when their decision letter is sent to them. All requests ... must come from the individual applicant concerned.”

 

The row erupted after one woman, who believes that she was raped four years ago after her drink was spiked, successfully overturned a decision to award her less money because she had been drinking. She said that being told that the award would be reduced “felt like a slap in the face”.

 

The woman said: “When I read the [authority's] letter I just had no words. I could not take it in. It felt like I was being punished for having the audacity to step up and say, ‘I don't think this should have happened to me'. It was like going back to the Seventies, saying, ‘She was asking for it'. How else could you read the letter but as saying it's my fault I was raped?”

 

The authority admitted that its compensation scheme was “originally applied wrongly” but the mistake was corrected and the award paid in full.

 

 

Source: The Times

Should compensation pay-outs be cut if victim has been drinking?

hmm... logically NO.

 

rape is never acceptable

 

but on the other hand it is everyones own resposibility to ensure their safety, so if you get parrelitic your defences are down and often you cant remember what you did!

 

so having a drink is ok, and you should get the full ammount, but getting totally p*** faced then... its hard to prove...

hmm... logically NO.

 

rape is never acceptable

 

but on the other hand it is everyones own resposibility to ensure their safety, so if you get parrelitic your defences are down and often you cant remember what you did!

 

so having a drink is ok, and you should get the full ammount, but getting totally p*** faced then... its hard to prove...

 

Yeah, but come on Rob, let's face it, if summat like this happens to a bloke in the gents of a Gay club, then NO ONE would be saying "oh, he drank too much, his guard was down, he was asking for it, blah blah...." would they....? So, to me, it's utter bollocks with more than a whiff of sexism and mysoginy about it.... The case where that woman had her drink spiked is particularly outrageous....

 

You can say that women who let their guard down are perhaps a bit silly, but being a "bit silly" hardly justifies some c/unt raping her..... Being silly aint against the law, rape is, end of story.....

 

Yeah, but come on Rob, let's face it, if summat like this happens to a bloke in the gents of a Gay club, then NO ONE would be saying "oh, he drank too much, his guard was down, he was asking for it, blah blah...." would they....? So, to me, it's utter bollocks with more than a whiff of sexism and mysoginy about it.... The case where that woman had her drink spiked is particularly outrageous....

 

You can say that women who let their guard down are perhaps a bit silly, but being a "bit silly" hardly justifies some c/unt raping her..... Being silly aint against the law, rape is, end of story.....

 

i didnt say it 'justifies' rape, indeed nothing does justify rape. i wouldnt call it 'silly' id call it 'stupid', as there are people that will take advantage of a young woman who isnt in control of herself. that isnt an excuse for a rape, but a rape may be the consequence for their stupidity. thats what happens in the real world.

 

 

Yeah, but come on Rob, let's face it, if summat like this happens to a bloke in the gents of a Gay club, then NO ONE would be saying "oh, he drank too much, his guard was down, he was asking for it, blah blah...." would they....? So, to me, it's utter bollocks with more than a whiff of sexism and mysoginy about it.... The case where that woman had her drink spiked is particularly outrageous....

 

You can say that women who let their guard down are perhaps a bit silly, but being a "bit silly" hardly justifies some c/unt raping her..... Being silly aint against the law, rape is, end of story.....

 

double post

i didnt say it 'justifies' rape, indeed nothing does justify rape. i wouldnt call it 'silly' id call it 'stupid', as there are people that will take advantage of a young woman who isnt in control of herself. that isnt an excuse for a rape, but a rape may be the consequence for their stupidity. thats what happens in the real world.

 

Yeah, well, "being stupid" aint a crime either.... If it was, about 50% of the country would be behind bars mate....... -_- Sorry, but your argument is just wafer-thin as far as I'm concerned.... And you didn't answer my point about a drunk MAN getting raped by a gay person (which HAS happened in some cases, so it AINT a hypothetical point...). I dont believe for a minute that we would be sitting here pontificating about a MAN's apparent 'stupidity' or them 'not being in control of themselves'..... Which is why I believe that this is a bunch of sexist cr@p....

 

I'd also be willing to bet that if a man reported rape, they'd be taken a damn sight more seriously by the filth and by the Criminal Justice system...... AGAIN, sexist cr@p.....

 

And when you make statements like "rape may be the consequence of their stupidity", then, sorry, you ARE kinda legitimising it indirectly.... In fact, that sounds like something the late, not-so-great sexist Tory tw@t Nicholas Fairbairn would come away with.....

Yeah, well, "being stupid" aint a crime either.... If it was, about 50% of the country would be behind bars mate....... -_- Sorry, but your argument is just wafer-thin as far as I'm concerned.... And you didn't answer my point about a drunk MAN getting raped by a gay person (which HAS happened in some cases, so it AINT a hypothetical point...). I dont believe for a minute that we would be sitting here pontificating about a MAN's apparent 'stupidity' or them 'not being in control of themselves'..... Which is why I believe that this is a bunch of sexist cr@p....

 

I'd also be willing to bet that if a man reported rape, they'd be taken a damn sight more seriously by the filth and by the Criminal Justice system...... AGAIN, sexist cr@p.....

 

And when you make statements like "rape may be the consequence of their stupidity", then, sorry, you ARE kinda legitimising it indirectly.... In fact, that sounds like something the late, not-so-great sexist Tory tw@t Nicholas Fairbairn would come away with.....

 

i see no difference between a bloke getting raped and a woman.. so i dont really see what point you are making... anybody getting so drunk that they are not in control of themselves are stupid as it leaves them open for abuse, robbery, sex crime, practical jokes, anything. male or female (but the vast majority of rapes are 'straight' rapes).

 

being stupid isnt a crime, but if you play with fire you are likely to get bruned!

 

we have had this argument before... and my point has not changed, its up to each individual to take RESPONSIBILITY for their actions because we do not live in a perfect world and until we do we must learn to avoid danger.

 

 

i see no difference between a bloke getting raped and a woman.. so i dont really see what point you are making... anybody getting so drunk that they are not in control of themselves are stupid as it leaves them open for abuse, robbery, sex crime, practical jokes, anything. male or female (but the vast majority of rapes are 'straight' rapes).

 

being stupid isnt a crime, but if you play with fire you are likely to get bruned!

 

Yeah, like you've never been so p!ssed out of your head and kinda lost control a bit in your life, come on..... -_- Such a self-righteous attitude man....

 

Yeah, like you've never been so p!ssed out of your head and kinda lost control a bit in your life, come on..... -_- Such a self-righteous attitude man....

 

yes of course i have, and i expect i will be again :lol:

 

BUT if anything untoward happens because im 'out of it' then whos fault would that be?..

 

do you lock your doors when you go out? do you leave money lying about in all sorts of places for all to see? .... the worlds full of scum who WILL take any oportunity to rob you... same argument, you HAVE to take responsibility for your actions and becoming 'out yer head' puts you in danger.

Rape is rape and no excuse for it at all and it should be severely punished in proven cases but girls going on a night out with tops so tiny their t*ts are virtually hanging out and skirts so short that you can see their undies then getting drunk are putting themselves in a lot more danger and risk as the way they dress is going to attract male attention and quite possibly the wrong type of male attention so females can help themselves be more safe by dressing more appropriately and staying within their limits but genuine cases of rape should be punished with a whole life sentence