As a woman, I say that the past might not be relevant but the truth might be, if you have just said, “I would never have done this” or “I have never done this”. I do not understand why the purpose of this amendment is to send a message; the point of the law is not just to send a message. Of course, we want women to get a fair shot at seeing people they are accusing of rape found guilty, but I do not want the state to be in a position where it can find people guilty based on the fact that you cannot probe the truth of what has been said. That is condescending to women, by the way. Women do not need to be so protected; they need people to do their jobs. But we do not need to alter the law to hide the truth in order to give women a fair shot.
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Baroness Fox of Buckley
(Non-affiliated)
in the House of Lords on Monday, 22 November 2021.
It occurred during Committee of the Whole House (HL)
and
Debate on bills on Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
About this proceeding contribution
Reference
816 c597 Session
2021-22Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamberLibrarians' tools
Timestamp
2021-12-08 15:16:09 +0000
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