Women's Views on News |
- Media coverage of the Le Vell case
- Events: 16 – 22 September
- Sports round-up: 16 – 22 September
- Help close Bristol’s lapdancing clubs
| Media coverage of the Le Vell case Posted: 16 Sep 2013 08:05 AM PDT
We took the decision not to discuss the Michael Le Vell rape trial until after the verdict came in due to our concerns about numerous media articles which involved perpetuating rape myths. We were also concerned that a number of media outlets came perilously close to publicly outing who they believe the victim in this case is; dissemination of this information is illegal and we believe that a number of press were flouting, at the very least, the spirit of this law if not the law itself. Coverage during the trial was deeply problematic as were the overly celebratory front pages in the newspapers following Le Vell's acquittal. We have had a large number of media article links tweeted and emailed to us, all of which were, for lack of a better term, distasteful. We were going to write a roundup of the examples of bad practise in the reporting of this case but we do not have the time or the ability to respond to every single piece that was sent to us. Simply put, every single article contained rape myths. Instead, we will be writing a series of responses to the media coverage of the trial focussing on different elements of the coverage. We will also be writing a piece looking specifically at the headlines in this case and another piece on the language used by the prosecution, defence and judge. We have not read a full copy of the judge's summation nor do we have a copy of the trial transcripts, for obvious reasons, however any trial where the term "witch hunt"[1] is used by the prosecuting attorney must be open to questioning, at least in as far as is possible without impacting on the anonymity of the victim. We are dependent on media coverage to ensure that trials are fair but this isn't possible when much of what has been written is neither impartial nor fair. In this first piece, we are focusing specifically on two articles written by Nigel Bunyan that appeared in the Guardian. The first was published directly after the jury retired to decide a verdict[2] and the second was a celebration of Le Vell's acquittal.[3] This is the standfirst to the article: ‘Judge says jurors must decide whether actor's alleged victim told 'the absolute truth' or set out to destroy his life’ Standfirst's are usually written by sub-editors rather than the journalist however this sentence is also the first paragraph in the article. There are two problems here: firstly, the judge has clearly used prejudicial language in directing the jury. Our justice system is predicated on two notions: the burden of proof is on the prosecution to make their case and that a jury must believe in a person's guilt beyond all reasonable doubt. The statement used by the judge invalidates both notions. It places the burden of proof on the rape victim, who only appears at the trial as a witness, but it also implies that the jury is to make their decision based on whether or not the witness was a malicious liar whose only intent was to "destroy the life" of the defendant. Bunyan should have questioned this statement in his article. Bunyan does reference a number of statements made by the prosecuting attorney but the basis of the article is the defence statements, which include this: “Had she really been raped as a young child it would have been extremely painful. There wasn't even a muffled scream. She just didn't make a sound. Is that real?” Williamson asked the jury: “Are you going to take a man's life away from him? Are you going to cast him to the outer darkness of being a child rapist?” The defence barrister may have made these statements but the first is quite clearly a rape myth. Many victims of rape do not scream. It is a survival instinct. In a truly just society, rape myths would not be allowed as a defence to begin with but equally Bunyan could have made it clear in his article that this was a myth. By choosing to ignore this key point and ending the article with the quote, Bunyan has clearly chosen a side. This is not fair or balanced reporting. In Bunyan's second article, he went so far as to conflate Le Vell's acquittal with a false allegation despite the two being very different legal concepts.[4] Being declared not guilty is not the same as being found innocent of a crime. The not guilty verdict simply states that the jury did not find sufficient evidence to convict Le Vell beyond a reasonable doubt. This is not the equivalent of being found innocent. It is also not a "false allegation". The law around "false allegations" and the charge of perverting the course of justice are problematic as they not only include making a false allegation but also retracting an allegation, which may be true or false, or withdrawing a retraction.[5] Clearly, this legal definition conflates several complicated issues and has resulted in a rape victim being convicted for perverted the course of justice for withdrawing her rape allegation after suffering stalking and harassment from her rapist and his family.[6] In conflating a not guilty verdict with a false allegation, Bunyan has based the entire article on a fallacious statement. Bunyan also focuses entirely on Le Vell and fails to acknowledge once that this rape trial was about the rape of a child. Instead, Bunyan effectively labels the child a liar whilst simultaneously exonerating Le Vell for being a "deeply wounded victim". Bunyan wants his readers to feel sorry for Le Vell who was forced to publicly admit to numerous extramarital sexual relationships and alcoholism. We are to feel sorry for Le Vell because “the unscripted drama that unfolded in court three, (Le Vell now) knows that the aura of invincibility and stardom that once cocooned him has been stripped bare.” This was a prosecution of a man for multiple accounts of child rape. It should not have been a trial about "invincibility and stardom". The fact that Bunyan, like much of the media, has made this trial about a male celebrity is the problem; not the trial itself. The article implies that Bunyan could only see one possible verdict: not guilty even before the verdict came in. What the salacious media coverage of this trial has done is restart the debate into anonymity for men[7] accused of rape.[8] This debate is inherently harmful as it starts from the premise that being accused of rape is a worse crime than either being raped or being accused of any other crime. The naming of an accused rapist is an important part of the judicial system as we know that many rape victims come forward only when they've seen that their rapist has been arrested for other crimes, as seen in the John Wurboys case. We do not need anonymity for rape defendants. We need a more responsible press which does not print rape myths as fact, deliberately misrepresents rape statistics and presume that all rape victims are lying. We need our media to start questioning the very clear fallacious statements used by defence attorneys in an attempt to discredit rape victims. What the media coverage of the Le Vell trial has proved is that we cannot count on the mainstream media for fair and accurate reporting of rape trials. Everyday Victim Blaming is campaigning to change the language, culture and attitude around violence against women and children.  |
| Posted: 16 Sep 2013 04:02 AM PDT
Brighton: 21 September: Roller Derby: Brighton Rockers vs. Leeds Roller Dolls at Dolphin Leisure Centre, Pasture Hill Road, Brighton, from 2.30pm The Brighton Rockers’ home bout sees them taking on the Leeds Roller Dolls. Tickets £10 Bristol: 16 September: The City Council Licensing Committee will hear the application by Central Chambers lapdancing club to renew their sexual entertainment venue (SEV) licence at City Hall from 11am. Members of the public can attend the hearing and Bristol Fawcett Society is warmly encouraging anyone who can go to do so. For those who can't attend but want to add their support to the online petition for a nil cap for SEVs in Bristol can do so here. Edinburgh: 20 September: Alan Bissett's Ban This Filth! at Netherbow Theatre – Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street, EH1 1SR, at 7.30pm Back at the Storytelling Centre after a hugely successful Fringe run for a one-off event raising funds for Edinburgh Women's Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre. In this show Alan Bissett explores the work of radical feminist Andrea Dworkin, looking at pornography and misogyny. Cautiously walking the minefield of exploring feminism from a male point of view, Ban This Filth! pits Dworkin's words against Bissett's life, challenging some of the assumptions we make about gender. Look out for awkward questions, laughter, Led Zepplin and the live, on-stage reconditioning of a man who's had it all too easy. Tickets £12/£10 21 September: Hollaback! Edinburgh Feminist Day School at McDonald Road Library, 2 McDonald Road, EH7 4LU, from 1-4pm Go and talk about rape culture, street harassment and intersectionality with some tea and cake thrown in for good measure. Email to book a place. 23 September: Save Edinburgh Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Pub Quiz Fundraiser at The Southsider, 3-7 West Richmond Street, EH8 9EF, from 8pm Want a night to be competitive, test your brain and win some prizes? Well Save EWRASAC are holding a pub quiz and raffle, so grab some friends and get yourself along. £2 per person Glasgow: 19 September: Summer Sea, Winter Sea – a talk at Glasgow Women's Library, Landressy Street, G40 1BP, at 6.30pm Joan Eardley's biographer, Christopher Andreae, talks about Joan Eardley (1921-63) – one of the most influential Scottish painters of her generation, whose paintings and drawings reflect urban and rural Scotland in an expressive visual language unlike any other artist's. Free Every Thursday until 17 October: Read, Relax, Recharge at Glasgow Women's Library, 23 Landressy Street, G40 1BP, from 12noon-2pm Are you a book lover? Or maybe you want to get back into reading again after a long break and don't know where to start? This friendly read-aloud group, led by Magi Gibson and librarian Wendy Kirk, offers the perfect chance to relax and recharge for a couple of hours. Bring along your lunch, and explore stories and poems by a range of amazing women writers from around the world, all washed down with lots of tea and friendly chat. A small donation of £2 (or whatever you can afford) is requested, to cover the costs of running the group, but free places are also available. Click here to register your interest, or contact the library for more information. 22 September: East End Women's Heritage Walk beginning at Glasgow Women's Library, 23 Landressy Street, G40 1BP, at 2pm Researched by learners and volunteers at Glasgow Women's Library, this women's heritage walk uncovers the hidden heroines of Glasgow's East End. If you are interested in finding out more about the women who worked in the Templeton factory, Suffragettes who were held in Duke Street Prison, or the woman who set up the Barras (and many more) then this is the perfect way to spend your Sunday afternoon. Horsham: 22 September: Friendly Stoolball matches, part of the National Ladies Stoolball 2013 season, at Horsham Cricket Club, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1TE England Under-21 Girls v Stoolball England President’s Under-21 Girls XI from 11am Free. London: 19 September: Go Home Campaign Public Meeting at Southall Day Centre, Shackleton Road, Southall, UB1 2QH, from 6-9pm Following on from the outrage about the Go Home vans and the immigration spot checks at transport hubs around London, a public meeting has been organised in Southall by the Refugee and Migrant Forum of East London (RAMFEL), Migrant Rights Network (MRN), Action Against Racism and Xenophobia (AARX) and Southall Black Sisters to support refugee and migrant activists and interested individuals. The meeting will provide and update on what has happened; explain the rights of those targeted for immigration checks and stop and search; explain what groups and individuals can do to campaign at a local and national level and explain how to respond to the various national consultations. The meeting will also look at the issue of the Go Home campaign posters at the reporting centre in Hounslow. 19 September: A charity event featuring the UK premiere film screening of ‘Dark Girls’ at the Museum of London, London Wall, EC2Y 5HN, from 6:30pm – 11pm Dark Girls is an emotionally hard-hitting film which explores the impact of deep-seated biases and attitudes towards dark-skinned women, outside of and within the African-American culture. View this remarkable film, have a Q&A with one of its producers/directors D. Channsin Berry, and discuss the important issue of colourism, its impacts upon the Black and Minority Ethnic communities, and ways to remedy some of the negative effects. The profits from ticket sales will be donated to Make Every Woman Count. 22 September: Anti-porn protest: Pornography is Toxic outside the Raddison Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury Hotel, Bloomsbury Street, WC1B, from 4pm Join London Feminist Network for a women-only protest against the porn industry outside the Radisson Bloomsbury Hotel. XBIZ EU, a four-day pornography industry conference, will take place at the Radisson Bloomsbury Hotel from September 22-25. Here representatives will network and discuss ways of spreading their toxic pornographic content onto more accessible devices. London Feminist Network will protest against the damage pornography does to women and question how a major hotel can play host to this poisonous industry that uses women's bodies to make vast amount of money. Until 28 September: The Othello Syndrome at the Drayton Theatre, Drayton Arms, Old Brompton Road, SW5 0LJ, at 8pm A play focussing on the gender politics of Shakespeare’s original. The tale of a man who kills what he thinks he loves; the fate of a woman who loves stories so much she becomes one. The nature of a world where irrational jealousy is considered a valid excuse for murder. “Essentially the production provides a contemporary feminist lens with which to look at a frequently performed play. “It highlights contemporary issues of gender-violence, so-called 'honour' killings, and female genital mutilation to shine new light on a classic play.” £1 from every ticket sold will be donated to Eaves. Until 28 September: Collagism FREE PUSSY RIOT! at The Vestibule, 81 Redchurch Street, London, E2 7DJ Collagism and friends present an exhibition of collaged screen prints in support of Freedom for Pussy Riot. It's a year since the shockingly unjust trial and imprisonment of Russian Feminist punk rock protest group Pussy Riot. A series of works have been created for exhibition in protest of this atrocity and support for the group. Proceeds from the sales will be donated to the band in aid of their continued appeal for justice. The campaign aims to raise awareness and support for the freedom of speech, equality for women and basic human rights for all. Until 11 October: Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale at Shakespeare's Globe, 21 New Globe Walk, SE1 9DY, from 2pm and 7.30pm It is 1896 at Girton College, Cambridge, and Elizabeth Welsh is preparing for battle. Girton is the first college in Britain to admit women. The girls risk their reputations for their education. They study ferociously and match their male peers grade for grade. Yet, when the men graduate, the girls leave empty handed, with nothing but the stigma of being a 'blue stocking' – and unnatural, educated woman – to their names. They are unqualified and unmarriageable. Principal Elizabeth Welsh is determined to win the girls the right to graduate, whatever the cost. Can they persuade the University? Not if the average fellow or undergraduate can prevent it. Meanwhile, Cambridge offers far more than merely educational opportunities to the Girton Girls. The battle for the vote, it seems, is the least of Elizabeth's worries. Blue Stockings follows Welsh and the Girton Girls over this tumultuous year in their fight to change the history of education. For tickets, click here. Nottingham: 21 September: Nottingham Women's Conference at ICCA, Nottingham, from 9.15am Nottingham Women's Conference 2013 aims to bring together women in Nottingham and the surrounding areas to look at ways forward on some of the key issues facing women today including the objectification of women, violence against women and girls, and women, power, and poverty. The conference is being organised by a collective of women under the banner of the Nottingham Feminist Action Network, with support from Nottingham Women's Centre, and will provide an opportunity for networking, promoting new ways of thinking about women's rights, and most importantly to reach women who ordinarily would not consider themselves as a feminist. For details of the keynote speakers, workshops, tickets and other information, click here. Tickets £10/limited free spaces Oxford: 25 September: Oxford Feminism Panel Discussion at Blackwell's Bookshop, 48-51 Broad Street, Oxford, from 7pm What is the role of feminism in today's society? Panel discussion. Almost 100 years since women in the United Kingdom were given the vote and over 40 years since The Female Eunuch, the gender gap is still a long way off closing. There is still inequality in pay, women are still underrepresented in the boardroom and casual sexism is still rife, leading to such campaigns #everydaysexism and 'Why We Need Feminism'. Despite all this, recent polls have shown that young women are increasingly reluctant to identify as feminists. Why is this and what relevance does feminism have today? Answering these questions and more will be four feminist scholars and activists. Tickets £3 Paisley: 20 September: Illuminated Letters Workshop at Ferguslie Library, The Tannahill Centre, Blackstoun Road, PA3 1NT, from 10am-4pm Part of the Renfrewshire Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. The Glasgow Women's Library will be holding workshops for women to create illuminated letters to inspiring women in Renfrewshire and around the world. Glasgow Women's Library and the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow are inviting women and girls locally, nationally and internationally to create their own illuminated letters to lost heroines: women who are no longer alive but whose histories and achievement are secreted safely in the shelves and boxes of the Women's Library. All the letters received will be exhibited on International Women's Day in March 2014. The letter can be as long or as short as you like. The Women's Library has compiled a list of 100 inspirational women but they are also encouraging letters to local women or other women not on the list. Email to book a place.  |
| Sports round-up: 16 – 22 September Posted: 16 Sep 2013 03:08 AM PDT
Triathlon: The grand final of the ITU World Triathlon Championships took place in London's Hyde Park on 14 September, bringing huge success for Great Britain. Welshwoman Non Stanford finished 25 seconds clear of the rest of the field to top the overall standings, despite a 15-second penalty for not placing her wetsuit in the box during the first transition. Stanford's well-deserved win tops off an outstanding season, during which she took podium finishes on five occasions. She broke her arm during a heavy fall in Hamburg in July, but recovered to finish second in Stockholm just five weeks later. Jodie Stimpson took fourth place in London to finish second in the overall standings. Also competing on Saturday was Shirin Gerami, making history by becoming the first woman to compete for Iran in a world championship triathlon. The British resident wrote to Iran's ministry for sports and youth affairs four months ago to persuade them that Iranian women could compete in the triathlon, and then travelled to Iran in person. Officials confirmed only last week that she would be able to take part. In order to meet Iran's requirements, she wore a full hijab and changed her clothes in a tent during the transition from swim to bike. Gerami called the experience "surreal, enriching and enlightening". Cycling: Women's cycling campaign group Le Tour Entier has published a manifesto calling for a women's Tour de France to be held alongside the men's race in 2014. The group is led by writer and cyclist Kathryn Bertine, World Ironman champion Chrissie Wellington, and cyclists Marianne Vos and Emma Pooley. More than 93,000 people have signed a position in support of their proposals. The manifesto has been sent to the world cycling authority the UCI and the Tour de France's organisers, the Amaury Sport Organisation. In addition to the calls for a women's version of the world's most famous cycling race, the document requests three women's Tours be established, and that restrictions on the length of women's races be abolished. "We must revamp the entire structure of women's cycling," Bertine said. "We have to elevate all of women's cycling so it is sustainable. It's about having a Tour de Everything, all the opportunities that men have as well.” Athletics: Jess Ennis-Hill hopes to make her return from injury during next year's indoor season. The Olympic heptathlon champion will hope for success in 2014 after an Achilles injury led to a disappointing 2013 season. Her comeback was postponed several times this summer, leading to her missing the World Championships in Moscow last month. "I hope to do an indoor season and then do a heptathlon and individual events," she told BBC Sport. "The ankle is on the mend".  |
| Help close Bristol’s lapdancing clubs Posted: 16 Sep 2013 01:09 AM PDT
Bristol has an online petition scheme that enables individuals, community groups and organisations to start petitions to raise issues of "public concern", so as to give councillors the opportunity to consider the need for change for problems faced by the city’ residents. Last month Thomas Oliver started a petition which calls upon the council to amend its current licensing policy with regards to sexual entertainment venues (SEVs), which include establishments offering lapdancing, pole dancing and peep shows, by reducing the current number permitted in the city from three to nil. A minimum of 10 signatories is required for the issue to be given due consideration by the council, and so far 270 people have signed. Two years ago Bristol City Council reviewed its policy for sexual entertainment venues and reduced the number permitted in the city from 4 to 3, as well as implementing more stringent regulation. This new petition draws inspiration from the nil policy adopted by Swansea City Council. In an email to the BBC, Oliver argued that the presence of such venues plays "a role in reinforcing sexism and attitudes which underpin inequality and violence against women." In the same email, he also raised concerns that women working in such establishments risked sexual and financial exploitation. The validity of his assertions were seemingly demonstrated by an article in the local press which revealed that three performers in one of the licensed lapdancing clubs in the city were facing sanctions for physical contact with customers. One of the stipulations of Bristol's Sexual Entertainment Venue licence is that there must be no physical contact between customers and performers during a show, yet an unannounced inspection from licensing officers to Temptations earlier this year revealed "extensive and repeated contact between customers and performers." While it was claimed that the management upheld a strict policy on "dirty dancing" and undoubtedly argued that these were the actions of individuals acting outside the regulations of the establishment, with three performers being reprimanded for this sort of "contact", we might wonder about the sexual and financial exploitation, to which Oliver alluded, operating behind the scenes. Nonetheless, dancers at Central Chambers, another of the licenced venues in the city, have been paraded in the local press as being against the nil policy measure. Apparently they claim that not only should they be free to earn money as they see fit but that they are vital to the city's "nighttime economy". The piece by the Bristol Echo is entitled ""Let us strip" is plea from Bristol's lapdancing girls", but it is not the "lapdancing girls" but the club manager, Carrie Hale, that makes the "plea". "We do not force the girls to work here", she said. "People should be allowed to do what they want to earn a living, as long as it is legal." "People are not forced to go into strip clubs either. They choose to and they should be allowed to spend their money how they like." Hale has set up a counter petition which has, since its creation just over a week ago, received nearly double the signatures of that calling for the nil policy. Speaking on Bristol’s community radio, BCfm, feminist, journalist and creator of the female comedy event What the Frock!, Jane Duffus emphasised the danger of harassment that comes as a corollary of SEVs located in city centres, where men who have been in an environment where women are treated as a commodity think that they can treat the women they meet on the street in the same way. She also stressed the social implications, saying: "By making it accessible and having high street clubs that allow women's bodies to be bought and sold and viewed only as sexual object, that drips into wider culture with women only being objects for sex…not being people with intelligence, not being leaders of business and not being politicians." SEVs must renew their licences on an annual basis and the licence hearings for two of the establishments currently operating in Bristol are on 16 and 30 September. These hearings are open to the public, and Bristol Fawcett Society is calling upon those opposed to go and show their discontent at City Hall on those days. For those who can't, you can add your name to the petition here.  |
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