Ten years on: consent under the Sexual Offences Act 2003

As the clock ticked over from 30th April to 1st May 2004 the Sexual Offences Act 20031 came into force and the Sexual Offences Act 19562 was repealed, fundamentally changing the law on sexual offences in England and Wales. Perhaps the most major changes were in respect of consent. This article examines on the changes the Act made to three aspects of consent: the provision of a statutory definition, the effect of deception of C on the validity of C’s consent and the role of D’s belief in C’s consent. To this end the article considers the pre-SOA 2003 law on consent, the impetus and proposals for reform, the Act and how it has been implemented by the courts and finally how the Act could be improved to provide greater clarity substantively and procedurally to achieve the aims which lay behind the reform of consent in the first place

The inquiry no one wants to chair

Catarina Sjölin considers the format the Home Secretary's inquiry into historical child abuse should take in order to truly find answers

Achieving the G20 gender equality target by tackling sexual exploitation through legal uniformity, extra territoriality and corporate responsibility

Exploitation of some individuals and groups by others is a depressingly familiar aspect of human society which enables one individual or group to succeed at the expense of another. Whilst not seeking to downplay abuse of men and male children, this paper focuses on sexual exploitation of women and girls, whether through direct violence, the imposition of fear or coercion, and whether or not for financial motivation. We have chosen sexual exploitation because, as we shall see, it is predominantly directed at women and girls and has uniquely traumatic effect. Sexual exploitation may occur within territorial boundaries but it has become increasingly transnational through travelling abusers (often serial intimate partners), human trafficking and online sexual exploitation (which has a particular effect on the progress of female children ). Law and policy have both developed separate approaches in relation to sexual exploitation within relationships as opposed to where it occurs for profit. In our view, any policy or legislative distinction between domestic and organised sexual crime is artificial, unnecessary and counter-productive. The common manipulation of the intimate partner relationship for commercial sexual exploitation is an obvious example of the failure of this approach. Tackling this as purely commercial or purely domestic ignores vital causes and consequences. Although the causes of sexual exploitation may differ depending on the relationship between victim and exploiter, the result is the same: an exploited victim. Importantly, the longer term consequences for the victims are often the same whether the exploitation takes place in a purely domestic or commercial context.Health consequences from sexual exploitation are well researched. Women and girls are inhibited by the lack of empowerment this brings in reaching their full potential. This has a knock on effect in the workforce of any state, with a consequent effect on economic prosperity. In November 2014, the G20 countries committed to a “goal of reducing the gap in participation rates between men and women [in the G20 countries] by 25% by 2025, taking into account national circumstances, to bring more than 100 million women into the labour force in order to significantly increase global growth and reduce poverty and inequality”. It has been said that there are three key levers to achieve female workforce participation – social change in the sense of changing norms and stereotypes about work undertaken, policy change in relation to incentives and child care and workplace change closing gaps in wages and increasing the number of women in leadership positions . This paper seeks to add a fourth dimension in the context of empowering women by tackling sexual exploitation. We suggest the need to focus on legal uniformity, extra territoriality and corporate responsibility. We argue that there is a link between legal and policy approaches to sexual exploitation and the successful empowerment of women through employment. If equality is a genuine goal then the policy on sexual exploitation needs to be addressed at global level in the context of law and economic progress

Patterns of sexual behaviour: the law of evidence: back to the future in Australia and England

A recent Victorian Court of Appeal ruling [in Australia] has sparked concerns that a clamp down on the way child abuse cases are handled could thwart convictions. The Court of Appeal justices ruled only cases that are "remarkably" similar would go before the same jury, making it harder for allegations from multiple complainants to be heard together. There are concerns that this will reduce the number of convictions for sexual offences, especially for those against children. This article explores the approach in England and Wales, and Australia to evidence of a pattern of behaviour, focussing on when it is adduced in cases involving sexual abuse. We first consider the shared common law history of the two jurisdictions before exploring how common law and legislative changes have led to surprisingly different positions in the two countries. We conclude by suggesting a simpler and more rational approach which has started to emerge and could be adopted in both countries, and indeed should be considered in any jurisdiction