Alison Saunders accuses judge of peddling `discredited rape myths`

The head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has hit back at a judge who said she has less understanding of rape cases than a newspaper columnist. Last week, Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson accused Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Alison Saunders and Justice Secretary Liz Truss of creating a “militant sisterhood”, over reforms that could see alleged rape victims no longer facing cross-examination live in court. In response, the DPP said the law on consent had not been changed, and the CPS must charge people when there is a realistic prospect of conviction. Also writing in the Telegraph, Judge Philip Shorrock claimed that in his 40 years as a barrister, most trials led to the alleged rapist being “unsurprisingly” acquitted because both parties had been drinking or taking drugs. He added: “If my experience is any guide, I fear that Allison Pearson’s analysis is closer to the mark than that of Alison Saunders.” Ms Saunders said it was disappointing to hear Judge Shorrock’s “victim blaming” views which allow sexual predators to offend with assumed impunity. “It is our job, as prosecutors, to make objective charging decisions based on the evidence, rather than the discredited rape myths that skewed the system against victims,” she added. The dispute comes after Judge Lindsey Kushner was accused of victim blaming when she said women “are entitled to do what they like” but should also “be aware there are men out there who gravitate towards a woman who might be more vulnerable than others”. She made the statement as she sentenced a man to prison for six years over the rape of 19-year-old Megan Clark. However, Ms Clark has since said she took the judge’s comments in a “positive way” and did not believe it was a case of victim blaming. “I (now) know it wasn’t my fault. It’s never the victim’s fault – they aren’t the problem, regardless of what I was doing,” she said. “I felt I put myself in that situation. I need to be more careful.”