The Delhi Diaries

In the aftermath of the acquittal of all four defendants in the Belfast Rape Trial, there has been an outcry that the criminal justice system as it currently stands in prosecuting sexual assault and rape cases is failing women. I couldn’t agree more. But in actual fact, it is failing all parties. Can we ever be Sure Beyond all Reasonable Doubt? The standard of proof in a rape case, to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that a party did not consent, or that one party knew, or ought to have known that the person did not consent and continued on recklessly, is almost impossible to meet in circumstances of rape, particularly if there has been alcohol involved. The standard of proof is rightfully high considering that a conviction of rape carries a potential life sentence and non-custodial sentences in rape have proved to be exceptional. Another huge barrier to reaching this threshold is the high evidential requirement of criminal trials. When criminal trials rely so h...

*Update* As of 28 March 2018, all four of the co-accused have been acquitted of all charges. In an ongoing rape trial in Ireland, two Ulster rugby players, Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding, stand accused of the rape of a woman at an after-party following a night on the town. A third, Blane McIlroy, is accused of indecent exposure whilst the fourth accused, Rory Harrison, is charged with perverting the course of justice. All four deny the charges.  I have been watching as the trial unfolds, namely to gauge Ireland's reaction to sexual assault and rape trials. Historically, Ireland has fallen in to the trap of victim blaming or 'boys will be boys'-ing and I was interested in tracking whether perceptions have changed, especially in light of recent developments and campaigns such as #metoo.  What has shocked me more than the details of the alleged rape itself are the WhatsApp conversations which took place after the alleged rape and which have been entered in t...

*This article originally appeared on the 'Why I March' section of the  Abortion Rights Campaign  in 2013. I am deeply indebted to Lauren Howells, for her patience in editing this piece and for taking up the Repeal mantle in England on behalf of Irish women.* *As of  25 May 2018, the Irish people voted by referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment from the Irish Constitution. On 18 September 2018 following signature by the President, the 8th Amendment was officially repealed.* In a Paris bar, a French friend asks me: “What does it mean, ‘Repeal’?” He has clearly seen my profile photo on Facebook, with the bold, white REPEAL emblazoned across my chest. And in my Irish-centricity, I realise that this could mean anything to a foreigner. So I start with the basics: the Irish Constitution, the 8th Amendment. I explain that according to the Constitution, the right to life of the unborn carries equal weight to the right to life of the mother. He nods. I explain th...

This is the first year of the YIF programme where sexual harassment training and workshops are mandatory. Considering myself to be as woke a feminist as they come, I thought that I was well aware of the sexual harassment and consent terminology and didn’t think that there was anything else I could learn. So what is the point of having these sessions? Led by Dr Madhavi Menon, all students were briefed on the Ashoka sexual harassment policy; what constitutes as sexual harassment, how to make a complaint to the Committee on Sexual Harassment (or 'CASH' for short), what the procedure would be and what the penalties are if a student is found guilty. She kick-started the session with a short video from AIB which challenged some of the pre-conceived ideas of courting/stalking and other themes that are propagated in Bollywood films. The batch was then divided in to groups and each watched a series of short films, produced by Ashoka students which mimicked real-life scenarios of incid...