Glasgow Labour Councillor William O’Rourke sacked over rape remarks

I do wonder sometimes if elected politicians get up in the morning and say to themselves, time for a major blunder?

I write this post, not for political point scoring, I can do that anytime with real facts and figures against the SNP, Labour and the Conservatives, instead, I write this post in sheer amazement and disgust.

Only last month my good friend Caron blogged about Bill Aitken, the Conservative MSP who implied a rape victim was a prostitute just because the area she was attacked in was a known area for prostitution.  You can read HERE why Caron felt he should have resigned.

Well this time it is a Glasgow Labour Councillor who has made a stupid and completely unjustified comment and even worse it is about a nine year old alleged rape victim.

The only difference is that the Labour Councillor has been sacked for his comments by the new council leader, I applaud him for his swift action.

What is concerning though is that two other Labour Councillors were present at the meeting in January and it appears they failed to do anything about the comments made by Councillor O'Rourke, which is as bad in my opinion.  The complaint was in fact made by a police officer present at the hearing.

I'm pleased he has been sacked, losing around £37,000 worth of salary in the process, but he now needs as Carons suggested for Bill Aitken to visit Rape Crisis Scotland and meet them to understand more about what rape victims go through, believe me, it really is not pleasant.

Today's Herald carries the story;

A female police officer, who investigated the case, raised the matter after giving evidence at the personnel appeals committee. She referred her complaint to one of her senior officers, with Strathclyde Police then referring the matter to the Standards Commission.

Mr O’Rourke, who had been touted as a possible future chairman of the police authority, is reported to have asked if force was used during the alleged rape and when she told him it was not, he is alleged to have asked: “So she wanted it to happen?”

He is then alleged to have commented on the fact the child’s mother was a prostitute and made arguments about lowering the age of consent.

If the young girl's mother was a prostitute, what the hell has that got to do with the alleged attack on her daughter?  Nothing, absolutely bloody nothing and Councillor O'Rourke should never have said anything about it.  It doesn't add anything to the hearing and should have been ruled out immediately.
You can read the full story in today's Herald.

Government review of sex crime misses male rape

While I am delighted that the Government is currently reviewing sex crimes, and looking at announcing its ten year strategy to tackle violence against women a major part is missing from the review itself.

Baroness Stern, a cross-bench peer is leading the review of sex crime and she is very concerned that despite the review and the ten year strategy rapists will continue to walk free in the future.

Baroness Stern has been visiting police forces with a better track record ensuring that this best practice is seen and then shared amongst other forces rather than the usual way of seeing the worst ones and telling them to improve.

Baroness Stern feels that late-night transport for women would help to reduce attacks but also wants education for boys, teaching them the importance of sexual consent.

Given Britain has the lowest rape conviction rate in Europe, I agree that often radical ideas are needed but I also stress a word of caution to Baroness Stern.

Women are not the only victims of rape, male rape is more common than most people think. Research statistics tell us that almost 3% of men reported a non-consensual sexual experience as adults and over 5% of men reported sexual abuse as a child.

So, while I am more for ensuring rape conviction goes up, let us not forget it is both men and women who can be raped, as well as men and women who can rape.

If you have any suggestions for Baroness Stern, or just want to remind her that men can be victims of rape as well you can contact her here.