Robinho being charged for ‘a sexual assault’ came into the news hardly as a surprise. Commentators, laymen, and indeed I have all seemed to have come to the conclusion that it’s just an accusation. In a time when convection rates are at an all time low this is a worrying assumption. Whilst I wouldn’t judge pre judgement on Robinho, the fact that any judgement is leant towards the accused and not the accuser speaks volumes for the regard that the court system in sexual assault cases is held.
It’s in this situation that rare sympathy can be afforded to footballers. In the last few years a group of players including Titus Bramble and Carlton Cole were accused of raping a young girl. There was no conviction, but Max Clifford was hired to represent the girl. Not a lawyer, no private detective. Instead a PR expert.
Robin van Persie was accused, but the case was thrown out due to a complete lack of evidence. His ‘victim’s’ name was in the newspaper, something that can’t happen in law without her consent. Whilst it’s impossible to imagine the horror of such an ordeal, should it have happened it’s doubtful a true victim would be comfortable speaking about it in a newspaper.
Christiano Ronaldo was another. His case thrown out due to a lack of evidence.
Paul Dicov, Keith Gillespie and Frank Sinclair have all be charged and later cleared due to a lack of evidence, and there are more.
Is it any wonder then, with such accusations made with no evidence that the natural assumption for Robinho is not guilty? Footballers are subject to women throwing themselves at them on a regular basis. Even Van Persie’s accuser spoke of wanting to have sex ‘with a nice footballer.’ This huge lack of awareness for their value as a woman carries more far more repercussions than damaging footballers' egos; It carries right through to affect genuine victims of rape.
Why have these cases been allowed to go to court with such a lack of evidence? Don’t the Police check if there are facts before charging? Apparently not, the word rape is enough. If any progression with conviction rates is to take place then the focus must shift to deciding if a case is warranted, or if it is a case of a girl wanting sex with a nice footballer and either regretting it later or wanting to see her name in the papers.
As long as this trend continues women and real victims will continue to suffer without justice.
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Thursday, 15 January 2009
The Story ... So Far
A trip to the city last weekend brought about a trip to a certain respectable book store, during which my mind simply wasn't on the task; I was thinking about cricket. To be precise I was thinking about how it is that England have gone from Australia Conquering Heroes to being rated 5th in the test rankings, just 3 points above 6th, in the space of 3 years. That's less time than it took Boycott to craft another century.
This thought was in mind whilst I looked at the Sports section. I looked down past the autobiographies of Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, and on to Alistair Cook: My Story So Far. Considering his story so far leaves him at 25 and would set you back £12.99 I'd feel a little more that short changed. Monty Panesar also tells of 'My Story So Far,' and so the problem became more apparent. So far half the current team have spent time writing their stories, all so far.
The mention to Boycott wasn't simply a needless critique. He took so long to score because he was so obsessed with runs. His autobiography didn't come out until he was 47. Instead he spent his time working on his game, but this isn't supposed to be a big up Boycott post, instead an asking of the question: What exactly have Cook and Panesar done to feel their stories are worth telling so far? What have they achieved?
With Matthew Hayden retiring (no autobiography yet, just two cookbooks) perhaps we should look across the water to compare outlooks. When we beat Australia we gave out MBEs, OBEs, tours around Downing Street, and many many alkaseltzers. When Australia beat us 5-0 there was just the hangover cures. It was another victory, another step on the way. For us it was the destination.
This thought was in mind whilst I looked at the Sports section. I looked down past the autobiographies of Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, and on to Alistair Cook: My Story So Far. Considering his story so far leaves him at 25 and would set you back £12.99 I'd feel a little more that short changed. Monty Panesar also tells of 'My Story So Far,' and so the problem became more apparent. So far half the current team have spent time writing their stories, all so far.
The mention to Boycott wasn't simply a needless critique. He took so long to score because he was so obsessed with runs. His autobiography didn't come out until he was 47. Instead he spent his time working on his game, but this isn't supposed to be a big up Boycott post, instead an asking of the question: What exactly have Cook and Panesar done to feel their stories are worth telling so far? What have they achieved?
With Matthew Hayden retiring (no autobiography yet, just two cookbooks) perhaps we should look across the water to compare outlooks. When we beat Australia we gave out MBEs, OBEs, tours around Downing Street, and many many alkaseltzers. When Australia beat us 5-0 there was just the hangover cures. It was another victory, another step on the way. For us it was the destination.
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