Photo taken from The Telegraph showing women rights activists outside the court in Cyprus
The #metoo movement sparked a rise in women sharing their stories on social media and coming forward to talk about sexual abuse that had happened to them. However there is still a “culture of disbelief” as reported to Inews by Dame Vera Baird, the Victims Commissioner for England and Wales. This unfortunately stops victims from reporting crimes and obtaining the justice they deserve. There was a 25% drop in rape conviction prosecutions in 2018-19, a disturbing drop for the second year running. This was despite a record number of 57,882 reported incidents. This means that only 3.3% of cases reported ended in a conviction. This is worrying news for campaigners who support women and for victims that need justice.
At the moment the British Foreign Office is trying to intervene in the case of a 19 year old girl who could face up to a year in jail. The young girl had reported to Cypriot authorities that she had been raped by 12 men on the island of Ayia Napa. The British girl is only 19. She was interrogated by Cypriot police for 9 hours without access to a solicitor, before retracting her statement at 2am in the morning. The girl has since said she was bullied into retracting her statement. The men involved were freed and allowed to go home whilst the young girl was then remanded in custody for a month. On the 30th December the girl was convicted of “public mischief” with the judge saying that she lied about being gang raped. The alleged perpetrators had also filmed the event without her consent but video evidence was not allowed in court. The alleged perpetrators were also not charged with revenge porn.
The girl’s legal team are planning to appeal her conviction to a suspended sentence so that she can return to the UK. However, due to delays in the island’s Supreme Court, she could now face up to a wait of 8 years before she can clear her name, before going to the European Court of Human Rights if needed.
Her mother has talked to the BBC and reported that her daughter is suffering from PTSD, hypersomnia and paralysing hallucinations, as well as becoming very withdrawn. “‘She needs to get back to the UK to get that treated – that’s my absolute primary focus. She can’t be treated here because hearing foreign men speaking loudly will trigger an episode.”
The story has resulted in widespread outrage with online campaigns starting such as #BoycottCyprus and a petition to drop the charges against her There has also been a gofundme page set up to support the girl: Help teen victim get justice in Cyprus and over £100,000 has been raised so far.
It is now 2020 and sadly this case again highlights the atrocity of a prevailing culture of disbelief amongst members of authority when victims come forward, as well as the devastating impact this can have on an individual and those closest to them. This culture needs to change so that victims can get the justice they deserve and perpetrators of crimes can be convicted.
You can take part in 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence which is run every year across the world, between 25th November and 10th December, leading up to the UN International day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Sheffield Hallam University runs events each year which you can get involved in as well as other events being held across the city.
If you are a woman or a man who needs support as a victim of rape there are a list of useful numbers and websites on the This Morning website here: https://www.itv.com/thismorning/rape-helplines you can also talk to someone at the University here: https://reportandsupport.shu.ac.uk/
