Woman with Disability Raped, Denied Liberty

James Chalmers says, "The Times also devotes attention to the Mental Welfare Commission’s scathing “Justice Denied” report on the case of Ms A, a 67 year old woman with a learning disability who appears to have been the subject of repeated assaults which have led not to criminal proceedings against her alleged assailants, but instead to subjecting Ms A to a “protective regime that effectively deprives her of much of her liberty”. The Times report is not online, but there is a BBC News story online, and a summary of the report can be downloaded from the Commission’s website." [1]

There were no prosecutions because she wasn't considered to be a reliable witness due to her disability.

According to the BBC report, "She was sexually assaulted by five men over the past decade - none of whom have ever been prosecuted, despite the attacks being reported to police. ... Four of these incidents, all of which were reported to the police and the fiscal, involved one man." [2]

The report on the Commission's site says:

"The UN Convention on Rights of People with a Disability places a duty on State Parties to ensure effective access to justice for adults with a learning disability on an equal basis with others. For a number of complex reasons, this did not appear to have happened for Ms A. ...

We are satisfied that Ms A is protected from further risk of assault. However, we do have serous reservations as to the lawfulness of certain aspects of her current care plan. ...

The levels of protection that have been put in place mean that she is barely allowed outside her flat without an escort. We believe that this level of restriction requires an appropriate legal intervention and the safeguards that would accompany it. It was generally acknowledged that Ms A was most at risk from a small number of identified men. The fact that these men were not prosecuted has left Ms A at greater risk. Management of these risks has been through highly restrictive care arrangements. If the people who Ms A claimed (and others believed) had assaulted her had been brought to justice, her safety would be less compromised and these restrictions less necessary. ...

It is difficult to escape the conclusion that different standards were applied to Ms A because she had a learning disability." [3]

Links:
[1] criminalletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/very-bad-news-day.html
[2] news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7349900.stm
[3] mwcscot.org.uk/web/FILES/Publications/Justice_Denied_Summary_FINAL.pdf