If you’ve followed me for a while then you know what I think of Brock Turner, his case and how despicable our justice system can be. If not, read this.
Any form of sexual assault is vile and perpetrators need to be punished for their crimes. On the other hand, I also believe that anyone who makes false claims of sexual assault should also be punished.
Most people know who Brock Turner is, if not please read the post linked above.
Now, I would like to introduce you to Sophie Pointon.
Sophie is a 22 year old student in the UK who falsely claimed that a cab driver raped her because he refused to accept money that she spilled food on and then threw at him. Intoxication is not an excuse for being disrespectful and sexual assault is NOT something that you lie or joke about. Sophie cost this man a month of work because of the case, and what she did was awful.
You’re probably wondering what this woman has to do with Brock Turner right? Technically nothing, and I recognize that these are two separate cases that took place on different continents. However, it really made me think. As I said, false claims of sexual assault should be punished without a doubt. But what does it mean when one person who made a false claim of sexual assault is sentenced to 16 months in prison while an actual rapist who was caught in the act is sentenced to 6 months and serves only 3?
Again, I know that these are two different cases, a year apart and across an ocean.
But what does that say about right and wrong? About justice? About protecting those who need protecting? Shouldn’t there be some kind of consistency?
I mean, what if this had happened in the U.S.? Would Sophie be sentenced the same amount of time? Would the judge who took pity on a rapist also take pity on her? Would she serve any time at all?
A fellow blogger pointed out to me that there are many factors that have to be considered in sexual assault cases including the age of the victim, repeat offenders and statute of limitations etc. I hadn’t even begun to think of all those things.
Even still, I’m wondering if there should be some sort of baseline sentence to set a standard?
Thoughts?
bookmarkchronicles 
Reblogged this on The Patchwork Diaries and commented:
I’d like to get the opinions of my audience on this issue. I think there needs to be a mandatory minimum sentence for both rape and those who falsely accuse of rape. Where I tend to get stuck is how we could come up with a “fair” minimum sentence that serves justice for both crimes.
False accusations of rape are most definitely just as serious and cause just as much damage to innocent men and their families as the crime of rape itself. But how can you punish a physical crime and an emotional crime with the same severity? Thoughts?
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Thanks for sharing!
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No problem! Attention needs to be drawn to this issue. Even if the sentence was justified compared to most rape sentences, compared to Brock Turner which is the most recent case fresh in the minds of many her sentence is frightening and damaging to those who have yet to come forward and speak about their rape/assault. You took notice, that’s important and worth the share! 🙂
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