Bonny Turner
Rape Justice Activist
Between 2010−2018, three men raped me in separate criminal incidents. I reported the first two men to the police in Norway and the UK, but neither resulted in a proper investigation, let alone a prosecution and conviction. In my UK case, the man confessed in writing, and yet the Crown Prosecution Service (Public Prosecutor) still said it’s his word against mine. It’s no wonder I didn’t report the third rapist to the police.
My experience is in no way unique. It’s just one of 58,000 reported cases a year in the UK, in a so-called justice system that’s been decimated by more than a decade of austerity. Victims like me are being failed at every point in the (in)justice system and by the underfunded health and support services that are supposed to help us survive and move forward.
That’s why I’m fighting back by speaking out and raising awareness of these failings. My hope is for a system that sees rape victims’ rights at least equal to suspects’ rights, where we’re treated with dignity and respect.
My experience is in no way unique. It’s just one of 58,000 reported cases a year in the UK, in a so-called justice system that’s been decimated by more than a decade of austerity. Victims like me are being failed at every point in the (in)justice system and by the underfunded health and support services that are supposed to help us survive and move forward.
That’s why I’m fighting back by speaking out and raising awareness of these failings. My hope is for a system that sees rape victims’ rights at least equal to suspects’ rights, where we’re treated with dignity and respect.
#Lawyers4RapeJustice
Campaigning for free & independent lawyers for victims of rape
Having three experiences of reporting rape to the police (with a lawyer in Norway and without a lawyer in the UK) I know from personal experience how crucial lawyers are to victims when reporting.
Since speaking at Parliament in July 2019, I’ve been calling for people reporting rape to be provided with lawyers from the beginning of the reporting process.
In January 2021, I joined Dr Olivia Smith and Ellen Daly (Criminologists at Loughborough University) to co-found/lead the campaign calling for the Government to provide free and independent lawyers for all victims reporting rape in England and Wales.
Since speaking at Parliament in July 2019, I’ve been calling for people reporting rape to be provided with lawyers from the beginning of the reporting process.
In January 2021, I joined Dr Olivia Smith and Ellen Daly (Criminologists at Loughborough University) to co-found/lead the campaign calling for the Government to provide free and independent lawyers for all victims reporting rape in England and Wales.
Landmark Judicial Ruling
15 March 2021
My personal rape case spearheaded the collective legal challenge by the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) against the Crown Prosecution Service. In this landmark case, EVAW and the Centre for Women’s Justice sought to hold the Director of Public Prosecutions to account for covertly changing their policy and practice on charging rape cases, which has led to rape prosecutions and convictions falling to an all-time low. Even before COVID-19 brought the court system to a grinding halt, only 1 in 71 reported perpetrators of rape (1.4%) were prosecuted - of those, ≈60% convicted, so only ≈ 1 in 119 men reported to have raped were convicted.
The two-day judicial review was held in the Court of Appeal at the Royal Courts of Justice on 26th & 27th January 2021, and on 15th March 2021, the judges ruled that that the Crown Prosecution Service had not irrationally or unlawfully changed their rape prosecution policy, which caused rape prosecutions to plummet.
Our case was crowdfunded with thousands of small donations, many from women whose rape cases did not make it to court. We are now be expected to pay £75,000 in costs and a CPS spokesperson confirmed it would seek costs in order to fulfil its “responsibility to the taxpayer to recoup costs from legal action which we always argued was without merit”.
The two-day judicial review was held in the Court of Appeal at the Royal Courts of Justice on 26th & 27th January 2021, and on 15th March 2021, the judges ruled that that the Crown Prosecution Service had not irrationally or unlawfully changed their rape prosecution policy, which caused rape prosecutions to plummet.
Our case was crowdfunded with thousands of small donations, many from women whose rape cases did not make it to court. We are now be expected to pay £75,000 in costs and a CPS spokesperson confirmed it would seek costs in order to fulfil its “responsibility to the taxpayer to recoup costs from legal action which we always argued was without merit”.