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Drunken sex

(90 Posts)
grannyactivist Sat 15-Oct-16 17:08:00

The law on sexual consent, as it stands, is that if a person is above a certain level of intoxication/inebriation, there is a presumption that he/she is incapable of giving consent. Before engaging in sexual activity with someone, it is therefore the responsibility of each party both (a) to obtain consent and (b) to ensure that the other party is in a state where he/she is capable of giving it.

So what happens if BOTH parties are drunk? Seriously I can't get my head around this law - if, following drunken sex, the man claimed he had been raped because he wasn't in a position to give consent, could the woman counter-sue because she was equally drunk? In which case isn't sex between two drunk people always rape?

Someone help me out here. confused

Deedaa Sat 15-Oct-16 20:24:02

Well call me a dinosaur but in my young day we were well aware that getting paralytic was not a good idea as you never knew what it would lead to. We also tended to go everywhere in pairs and were very careful with men we didn't know.

Judthepud2 Sat 15-Oct-16 20:41:05

Rape or not, the person I feel sorry for is Evans's girlfriend. He had sex with another girl, consensual or not. If I were her, I'd be off!

Penstemmon Sat 15-Oct-16 20:43:43

Deedaa individuals do have a personal responsibility to be alert to their own safety and putting oneself in a risky situation. However individuals also have a responsibility to behave within the law and the spirit of the law. To deliberately target a (foolish?) woman to have sex with because you know she is too drunk the take responsibility for her actions is rape in my book.

If person deliberately waited for elderly people , at a cash machines etc. because they knew they had a better chance of nicking their money we would not blame the elderly person for being robbed because they were slower at putting money away!

Jalima Sat 15-Oct-16 21:20:27

IO don't feel sorry for Evans's girlfriend; there will always be a suspicion that the £50,000 reward she or her father offered for any 'witnesses' to come forward resulted in an unsafe verdict in my opinion.
This bribe should have been admissible as evidence if it was not.
I hope that the 'witnesses' are real ones and have not perjured themselves.

If I had been on the jury I would now be very angry that I had not been presented with the full facts, the 'reward' (or bribe) aspect is very disturbing indeed.

Jalima Sat 15-Oct-16 21:22:18

The fact that she can remember nothing at all is extremely disturbing too, as is the fact that the 'witnesses' (rewarded) who came forward claimed that she said the same thing.
Coincidence or not?

Jalima Sat 15-Oct-16 21:24:37

The judge allowed the past history of a complainant to be part of the evidence, which is highly unusual, apparently.
It has set a precedent, I think, as it is normally illegal, but when this case went to Appeal, the three Appeal court judges said this evidence should be allowed. That is when Evans's girlfriend started offering a £50,000 reward for any witnesses to come forward who may have known the girl.

A very disturbing case and one that leaves a lot of questions to be answered, rather than a result.

Ana Sat 15-Oct-16 21:27:04

Absolutely! £50,000 is an awful lot of money (not for a successful footballer or his girlfriend, obviously)

A life-changing amount for some though.

annsixty Sat 15-Oct-16 21:31:19

If as reported she had consensual sex with another man immediately before having sex with Evans in the same room, it would have to be implied she was not raped but consent was assumed even though not verbal. How often is the question asked and answered?

Jalima Sat 15-Oct-16 21:32:12

Never assume anything.

Ana Sat 15-Oct-16 21:35:21

it would have to be implied she was not raped but consent was assumed even though not verbal.

Surely you're not serious, annsixty? hmm

Jalima Sat 15-Oct-16 21:39:22

Because one has sex with one man in a hotel room does not mean that one wants to have sex with another one who comes into the room later, with other people looking in through the window.
shock

Jalima Sat 15-Oct-16 21:40:39

This case and the verdict are extremely disturbing.

Even if it was not 'rape' who would want to spend the rest of their life with a man like that?

FarNorth Sat 15-Oct-16 21:51:59

The woman stated that she believed her drink had been spiked and that might have resulted in her remembering nothing.
A witness stated that the woman would often recall nothing from the night before, although she was not drunk.
The witness has very likely received a large sum of money from the accused or from someone close to him.
How can that possibly not be relevant??

annsixty do you really believe what you posted?

Iam64 Sat 15-Oct-16 21:55:27

The £50,000 reward for information that would help Ched Evans has to raise concerns about the validity of the evidence. The precedent set if allowing evidence about the complainants alleged sexual behaviour seems to set the approach to rape in the courts back fifty years.
I don't feel sorry for Ched Evans girlfriend, or for him, my sympathy goes to the young woman who made the complaint.
And, some people ask why victims of sexual harassment or assault don't come forward. That question was asked on another thread in relation to the women who recently alleged historical sexual assault or harassment by Mr Trump.

JessM Sat 15-Oct-16 22:10:01

The poor young woman has been hounded by strangers and by associates of Evans to the degree that she has had to move away, and be given a new identity. There has been another surge of venom on Twitter against her in the last 24 hours.
I do not feel sorry for the girlfriend. Let's remember Evans was convicted of rape and served time in prison for it. I can't sympathise with a woman who stands by a boyfriend who has been convicted as a rapist. Her father has also been prominent in campaigning on behalf of Evans. What kind of father, whose daughter's boyfriend has embarrassed her in this way, would take it upon himself to behave like this? Whether or not he thought it was rape.

etheltbags1 Sat 15-Oct-16 22:54:18

What is an inferior quality erection.is it a joke, you either have a erection or not

Maggiemaybe Sun 16-Oct-16 00:31:07

All my sympathy in this case is for the complainant. She has had to change her name five times and move away from her home, missing out on spending precious time with her mum, who has died since the original trial. She could make money now out of the case, but has reportedly turned down offers from the media.

Like Jess, I can't understand any parent actually wanting their daughter to stay with someone who behaved as this person did, even if he believes that he is not guilty of rape. My first instinct would be to get her out of that relationship by any means at my disposal.

Stansgran Sun 16-Oct-16 09:53:43

All pretty squalid IMO.

TerriBull Sun 16-Oct-16 10:52:58

I try to steer clear of articles relating to footballers and the never ending stories about the sordid goings on in hotel rooms "threesomes" etc. Did read a bit about it one line yesterday, all too depressing. It's a shame that the ubiquitous girlfriend "stands by her man" and her father, how strange! I ask myself how they are not revolted by his behaviour. My sympathies lie with the victim.

TerriBull Sun 16-Oct-16 10:53:51

on line

icanhandthemback Sun 16-Oct-16 11:10:43

Whilst I think that it is a dangerous line for the law to take for a rape victim's sexual history to be taken into account, this case was somewhat blurred from the outset. The victim went to the police because she had lost her handbag and didn't complain of rape, it was the police who suggested she had been. The victim posted on Facebook about her encounters in a way to suggest she had enjoyed the attentions of the 2 men but the police suggested she take them down so as not to prejudice her case. By the time Evans was charged, the Facebook evidence was gone forever. There is no doubt Evans behaved disgracefully but he may well have thought she was giving consent if she was acting like it. If you watch the video of her going into the hotel and going back out to get the Pizza she'd left outside, she certainly doesn't look that drunk. It doesn't sound as if a lot of talking went on in that hotel room, she was already in bed with his friend and actively said yes to him, I wonder how he was supposed to know. Dreadful behaviour and judgement on behalf of all the parties.

Jalima Sun 16-Oct-16 11:15:16

This case will give the green light to arrogant young men who will now think that they can take advantage of any woman (or man) who is foolish enough to drink too much - or to whom they have given a date rape drug - and get away with it.

Iam64 you're right - this case has set a precedent in law which has wiped out years of progress in the way courts deal with rape cases.

One day this young man may have a daughter of his own - how are he and his fiancée going to explain that to their child? And what sort of example would it set to any son they may have?

I thought better of the British legal system.

Jalima Sun 16-Oct-16 11:18:34

He has been found not guilty - but I would still not want a daughter of mine within 100 yards of anyone like that.

MiceElf Sun 16-Oct-16 12:45:52

thesecretbarrister.com/2016/10/14/10-myths-busted-about-the-ched-evans-case/

Elegran Sun 16-Oct-16 12:54:38

Interesting article, MiceElf, with details of the "fresh evidence" and of the legalities of how the second trial was handled.