Women's Views on News |
| Different help for female offenders Posted: 20 Jan 2017 05:10 AM PST
A new Academy aiming to get female prisoners into employment when they are released from custody was launched at Downview prison recently by Justice Minister Sam Gyimah and James Timpson, chief executive of Timpson's. The Max Spielmann Learning Academy, owned by Timpson's – who now own photo-printers Max Spielmann as well as their shoe-fixing chain – is to train prisoners in up-to-date photographic industry techniques and let them earn a customer service qualification. The idea behind this project is that prisons working together with local and national businesses and providing prisoners with the vital skills they need to find work will reduce reoffending and help offenders to lead crime-free lives. Providing offenders with this valuable training opportunity will help them to get jobs when they leave prison; when they are released every offender has the opportunity to work for Timpson’s in one of their high street shops, and so gain a full-time job. The Timpson Foundation's work with offenders has already led to numerous Academies being set up within prisons to train offenders prior to their release. James Timpson is also founding chair of the Employers Forum for Reducing Reoffending (EFFRR). And he supported the Coates Review into prison education reform, which was published in May 2016, and works with employers, schools and officials to further the employment of offenders. Dame Sally Coates lead a review of education in prison and make recommendations as to how it could be improved, and her ensuing report set out recommendations relating to: the current accountability framework for delivering education; the capacity of the workforce; the learning needs of different types of prisoners; the ability of prisoners to access higher level learning; the potential for IT to support education; and services available to support prisoners to get employment and/or continue their education on release. Many offenders have confirmed a link between their offending history and their ability to secure meaningful paid employment. Timpson's is already running an academy for female prisoners in New Hall prison in Wakefield, and 10 per cent of Timpson colleagues, as their employees are known, are recruited directly from prison. Speaking at the opening, Justice Minister Sam Gyimah said he was delighted to be opening the Max Spielmann Learning Academy at Downview prison, and: "Whilst offenders are in prison we must give them the right training and skills to make sure they do not return to custody. This academy will ensure they have the opportunity to get a job and turn away from a life of crime. "We are committed to helping all offenders to reform and make a new start – reducing reoffending and cutting the cost to the tax payer. "The women learn everything from picture restoration, to transferring images onto products, constructing picture frames and stretching the canvases. "Working and training in areas which are often seen to be associated with men will give female offenders new opportunities and break down barriers to their future employment."  |
| Myth-busting initiative funded Posted: 20 Jan 2017 04:56 AM PST
The Scottish Government is backing a new campaign challenging the public's misunderstandings about how victims react to rape. Ministers have awarded £30,000 to Rape Crisis Scotland for an initiative, which aims to make clear for example that it can be a "natural and common reaction" for people not to scream or fight back if they are sexually assaulted. The awareness-raising campaign is being launched ahead of a change in the law which will require judges to give jurors specific directions in some cases. Louise Ellison and Vanessa E. Munro, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Nottingham, who specialise in research into sexual violence and rape prosecution, gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee when the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Bill 2016 was being considered. When they focussed on how jurors were influenced by specific aspects of the victim's behaviour, for not fighting back, not reporting the attack straight away or being calm and composed when giving testimony, Ellison and Munro found that although the participants in the mock trials acknowledged that different people react differently to these type of experiences, they still made incorrect assumptions. Using people posing as jurors – a project with real jurors was not feasible – Ellison and Munro looked at reactions to rape claims. Many of the jurors assumed a rapist would use force, and a woman would fight back and defend herself, and many of the jurors felt a delay in reporting had 'seriously weakened the prosecution case'. But, if they report at all, victims do not necessarily report straight away. Police Scotland's 2013-14 management information shows that a quarter of all sexual offences, and over a third of rapes, were reported a year or more after they happened. Most of the jurors also expected the complainant to show more emotion and have a strong reaction on seeing their attacker in the courtroom When Ellison and Munro focussed on the relationship between misconceptions about rape, and public expectations about how men and women navigate, and behave in, sexual relationships, and the scripts – the sequence of behaviours you'd expect in a particular scenario – they used to draw a boundary between normal sex and 'real rape' they found that one of the main themes in the jurors' deliberations was 'normal' sex is communicated indirectly, and that 1) it's women's responsibility to manage this indirect communication 2) women should know that men would be checking for sexual signals, so they should watch how they responded – and forcefully and, if necessary, clearly verbally communicate if they don't consent. Jurors also drew on the age-old notion that once a man is sexually aroused he just can't stop himself and that a typical rapist would be abnormal or unwell, and so he would be different from normal men who use less violent ways to secure sex. Some felt that 'normal' sex happens between couples who have a similar level of physical attractiveness – a person would be less likely to say yes to sex with a partner was much less physically, or socially, appealing. Some felt that 'normal' sex doesn't involve force or, if it does, only certain specific kinds of force. They also accepted, unquestioningly, the idea that women have more interest in relationships than men do – which meant they thought women might look for revenge if they were rejected sexually. And jurors assumed that having a reputation for being sexually promiscuous is a bigger issue for women – so women would feel dirty, but men would feel proud. The research thus suggested that many of the assumptions in the jurors' sexual scripts were, 'highly suspect either in terms of their factual grounding or normative value'. So myth-busting in rape cases could be helpful – and incorrect assumptions about 'normal' sex and rape should be challenged more widely too. Ellison and Munro concluded that jury directions might change the way jurors deliberate and could help achieve greater justice. And their research clearly shows that jurors do not necessarily realise, or understand, that trauma, fear and shame mean victims of sexual offences can react counter-intuitively. Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: "The public understanding of sexual assault is changing but myths still exist around the behaviour of victims and perpetrators. He added that changes to the instructions given by judges could allow jurors to consider the evidence in an "informed and balanced way". These will apply in cases where there is evidence of a delay in the victim reporting the offence, where a victim did not physically resist their attacker, and where someone did not use physical force when committing a sexual assault. Matheson said: "Rape has a devastating impact on the victim and we do not want the trauma to be extended into the victim's experience in the justice system. "At a time when victims of sexual offences have increasing confidence in reporting to the police, this new statutory requirement will make a real difference in ensuring juries approach court evidence in an informed and balanced way."  |
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