RCNI Press Release 11 March 2005

‘Consent’ must involve more than one person if we are to see justice for rape victims

The Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) today called for a statutory definition of consent in rape cases to overcome the current limitations of the legal system as demonstrated by a not guilty verdict in a recent case. The absence of this definition leaves women in Ireland vulnerable to abuses of their human rights and contributes to the appallingly low rates of conviction in Ireland which are well below 5%.

Kate Mulkerrins, Legal Coordinator of the RCNI asked, ‘at present in our legal system, unlike in the UK, there is no requirement of reasonable care in obtaining consent. Therefore, a defendant’s mistaken but ‘honest belief’ in someone’s consent can, bizarrely, be grounded in a situation where the question was never directly asked and consent never directly received. This must change.

'Why, in our courts and in our pubs and clubs is ‘consent’ to sexual activity often dependent on one person’s understanding and not on a mutual agreement between two people? Common sense tells us that consent involves two or more people understanding what is being asked of them and clearly indicating that they are consenting to that action.'

Notes:
• The RCNI have been calling for a statutory definition of consent and a move away from judgement being based on the wholly subjective analysis of the defendant in rape cases since 2002.
• In the UK a statutory definition of consent has been adopted requiring persons to have the freedom and capacity to consent and that that consent is required to be found ‘reasonable’ by the jury.
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