Rape Awareness Week
Not Above the Law - We Support Louise Nicholas March
To mark Rape Awareness Week (1-7 May) I have organised a We Support Louise Nicholas March, Sunday 30 April, 2.00 pm from Queen Elizabeth Square (outside Britomart). The march will proceed up Queen Street to Aotea Square. There will be speakers from Rape Crisis and Auckland Sexual Abuse Help Foundation.
Organising this march was a way to give those unhappy with the outcome of the Louise Nicholas case a platform to express their concerns.
NZ has some of the most stringent suppression laws in the common law world. There is a perception that suppression orders are being used to protect the rich, famous or powerful while others must battle for name suppression.
Rape complainants must have enough confidence in the justice system to come forward.
The Louise Nicholas verdict sends a strong message to perpetrators, particularly those in positions of power and influence, that they are above the law.
We Support Louise Nicholas
Contact: Helen Wiseman-Dare
09 827 2516
Helen, I see the in the title to your piece on this blog advertising a protest march the words, “Not Above the Law”. Many of you supporters think they are ― and they are treated like cabinet ministers in this government.
Under our system of justice an accused person has to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In most cases of date rape and particularly historical date rape it is one person’s word against another.
The three men that were acquitted may well have been guilty. However, if I was on the jury and it appeared to be that there was a 90% change the accused was guilty I would not vote to convict even if it meant a hung jury. How about you? Do you think if 10% of those convicted of rape were in fact innocent it is a small price to pay for justice to all the genuine victims?
A lot of people think that the guilty should not be able to get off on technicalities. The problem with that theory is where do you stop. If the police could get away with torture to obtain evidence to prove someone is guilty beyond even a shadow of a doubt we are on a very slippery slope.
Louise Nicholas has had her day in court. I am much more concerned that alleged victims of an alleged paedophile Priest in Australia might not have to face his accusers. The Australian High Court has overturned an extradition order. The grounds cited is the man will not get a fair trial in New Zealand. This is an outrage and will hopefully be challenged.
The problem is that if the New Zealand justice system changes so as to move the balance to much in favour of the alleged victim we will not only see more wrong convictions but the New Zealand justice system will not be respected internationally. I believe that is to high a price to pay.
Posted by: Chuck Bird | April 22, 2006 at 08:59 PM
Definitely a good agreement. Fair enough.
Posted by: models in london | January 10, 2012 at 06:03 PM