Back from South Africa, anyway. Jet lagged out of my gourd as well. After a decade away (15 years since emigrating), South Africa now feels like a foreign land to me. The South African government claims that crime has dropped since the Apartheid years but I doubt very much that that is true. Absolutely everyone [...]

I have long thought that the current adversarial system we have is unsuitable for sensitive issues such as rape trials. I much prefer a jury-less inquisitorial trial where a case can be judged on the overall merits of the evidence available rather than be the subject of media pruriency. This is why I have much [...]

The battle between counsellors treating sexual abuse victims and ACC continues with some counsellors refusing to “label” their clients with a DSM IV mental health diagnosis. The counsellors correctly point out that many of these (mostly) women do not have mental health problems, but do need help. ACC’s obsession with mental health diagnoses extends to [...]

It is good to hear that someone has been arrested in connection with the 13-year-old girl who was raped in broad daylight yesterday. If guilty, he would be a prime candidate for locking away for good. Sexual predators such as he are highly unlikely to rehabilitate and will almost certainly reoffend if released. However appalling his actions, [...]

The Justice Ministry have put forward a troubling suggestion in Dominion Post today.  Accused rapists who plan to argue that sex with their victims was consensual may have to prove in court what measures they took to gain consent. I am not one of those morons who think that, when a woman is dressed skimpily/drunk/hanging around [...]