2009/10/06

Rape complaints face review to raise convictions 性侵案報案面臨檢討以提高定罪率

◎羅彥傑

The UK government has ordered a review into how accusations of rape are handled, in a bid to encourage victims to come forward and raise conviction rates.

英國政府已下令對如何處理性侵指控進行檢討,以鼓勵受害者出面及提高定罪率。

Harriet Harman, minister for women and equality, and Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the review will look at how rape complaints are treated from the moment they are reported.

婦女暨平等部大臣哈曼與內政大臣詹森表示,這項檢討將檢視性侵案件從報案的那一刻起如何被處理。

Its findings and recommendations will be published in 2010.

其調查結果與建議將在2010年公布。

"Convictions for rape have increased 50 percent since 1997, but with less than seven percent of reported rapes leading to a successful prosecution, we clearly must do more," Harman said.

「性侵案定罪率自1997年起已增加50%,但在已報案的性侵案中,只有不到7%能成功起訴的情況下,我們顯然必須多多努力,」哈曼表示。

Many more women were reporting rapes, but two high-profile criminal cases showed an urgent need to improve how complaints were examined by police and care agencies.

雖有更多婦女報案遭到性侵,但兩件高知名度的刑事案件顯示,改善警方與照護機構處理報案方式有迫切的必要性。

One was that of London taxi driver John Worboys, who was arrested in 2007 on suspicion of rape, only to be released without charge. This year he was jailed for attacking 12 women and 85 more have come forward to say they may also have been victims.

其中一件是倫敦計程車司機約翰.沃博伊斯,2007年因涉嫌性侵被捕,結果竟未被控任何罪名即獲釋。今年他因攻擊12名女子而入獄,而且有另外85人出面表示她們可能也是受害者。

新聞辭典

complaint:名詞,(法律用語)控訴、控告。make a complaint against…控告。

come forward:片語,站出來、出面。例句:The police encouraged accident witnesses to come forward.(警方鼓勵這起事故的目擊者出面作證。)

on suspicion of:片語,涉嫌~、有~嫌疑。例句:He was arrested on suspicion of fraud.(他因涉嫌詐欺而被捕。)

No comments: