2 boys and a girl

I am of course referring to the recently concluded trial at the Old Bailey of two boys for sexually assaulting a girl. Most of the coverage of the story and the public reaction to it is frankly disgusting but I'm not sure I can get my own thoughts in any sort of rational order. Part of me says was there a mountain made out of a molehill? Were they just satisfying the curiosity many children feel about each other's bodies? Another part of me says whatever it was it shouldn't have happened and the children need to be told that it is not acceptable behaviour.

Should the girl be prosecuted as well? In my opinion - no she shouldn't. Her story was consistent right up until the end of her cross examination by the defence barrister. Of course many people are saying women learn to lie about rape at an early age without taking into account the way barristers question witnesses. Most of us could be tricked into contradicting things we were absolutely sure of and it is probably a major area of concern for our adversarial system of justice. The jury were obviously convinced by the rest of the evidence and there was medical evidence as well - which I gather from seeing only one reference to it - has not been widely reported.

As for those saying that the case only went to trial because the mother insisted - well words fail me! The CPS does not ask the victim - or anyone connected with the victim - whether trials should go ahead. If they did a lot more cases would go to court than do now. They clearly felt there was enough evidence for a conviction - and their decision was correct in the light of the jury verdict.

Whether or not children should be tried in adult courts - with or without wigs and robes - is another issue and should not be used to confuse debate over this particular case.

If you don't show children at an early age what behaviour is acceptable and what is not they grow up to be adults who attack others.

Age of Consent part II

I came across this story today:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1264729/Child-bride-13-dies-internal-injuries-days-arranged-marriage-Yemen.html

The child bride aged 13 died from internal injuries and bleeding from the genital area. It is the most cogent argument I can think of for keeping the age of consent at 16. The article suggests this is far from being an uncommon event.

Women committing crimes

Does anyone out there really have a problem with the fact that women commit crimes as well as men? I certainly don't. Yet every time there is a story in the news about a woman committing a serious crime or being found guilty of child abuse there are always people commenting about feminism and how it assumes women do not commit crimes - especially against children. The comments read to me like children in the playground saying 'But she did it too, Miss. Punish her, Miss.'

The authorities - police, the courts, social workers etc - DO NOT automatically assume when faced with a woman that she must be innocent. Why should they? Yes there are a lot fewer women in prison that there are men and that could be for any number of reasons. Fewer murders are committed by women than men - fact. Fewer violent crimes are committed by women - though the levels are rising - fact. What about so-called white collar crimes? Here I'm not sure though I suspect here the numbers may be more nearly equal. Violence in general requires superior physical strength - at least in relation to the victim - though add a weapon to the mix and the odds are changed.

Brains are what is needed for fraud of any description - or extreme luck. But men always say they are much cleverer than women - because they have larger brains. Well yes they have larger bodies so you just might expect their brains to be in proportion. Does that mean they're more intelligent? The level of intelligence tends to me more extreme in men - either stupid or genius; women are more in the middle of the spectrum - see Susan Pinker's book - Sexual Paradox. So do more men or women commit crimes not involving violence? I don't know but I think it might be interesting to find out.

This post was prompted by the timesonline article about the lady who made her child ill deliberately.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6999018.ece