Author: The Daily Blog

Some experiences are so traumatic that they transform lives, and those who live through them deserve to be called ‘survivors’….

I will never forget the screams of my son, when they decided he was guilty. The cries of my daughter in law, the look on my husband’s face, I was in complete shock. If all the evidence was allowed to be heard, we would never be in this predicament. Leaving court that day without my son is a pain that rattled me to my core and will haunt me for the rest of my life.

The Sexual Violence Bill, currently before Parliament, looks to increase convictions by effectively revoking the defendant’s right to silence, and prohibiting types of evidence tending to indicate innocence. As an academic, qualified forensic physician, and expert witness in sexual cases (for both sides), I am concerned by the rationale for this bill.