200 RAPES?????

I was impressed with the energy and the number of young intelligent feminists who turned out to protest on Thursday - it was good to see many familiar faces and respect to Radical Youth for your brilliant organization (yes Span I did see you, we should so catch up for coffee re Alt Tv as I'm aiming to get some bloggers on a show we are launching on Sundays)- for those who don't know span - check out her great blogsite.

I was amazed at how badly the Police in Wellington reacted to the protest and the use of women cops on the front line was a shallow attempt to diffuse the issue - these police women are NOT the ones doing the raping and using them in this manner only seemed to reinforce the male dominance culture within the police force. In Auckland the Police kept a very low profile and very respectful distance - they seemed as angry as we were that these guys got off. I want to re-iterate that my issue isn't with cops - it is with the system that produces these cops. People we under resource our Police horribly, 19 weeks to train to be a cop produces a pig - it is as simple as that, and when you add to this piss poor training a culture of secreacy because there is no independent police complaints authority we get the kind of Police who pack rape. Just as a violent abusive culture within prison makes animals, so do does the same type of environment within the Police force.

And now we get to the bombshell, the first bits of the Police report are being leaked to the media so that it isn’t too shocking when it is released this month in full– 200 complaints of rape and sexual assault by Police are contained with in it.

200

That’s 200 cases that will never be followed up or prosecuted.

My god we are a nation with a deep, deep problem with sexual violence towards women and a Police force that is so far in denial that their only come back is to point to Police women who are used to diffuse rape protests as an example of how far they have ‘advanced’.

Rape is a male issue, it is predominantly committed by men, it is an issue WE as men need to resolve, we need to tell each other that such behaviour will simply not be tolerated and offer support as real mates when another male does commit this type of act. That support isn’t to help deny or lie about the rape – it is to stand by them as they go to Court and plead guilty and insure they get the support and help they need to not do this type of action again. As men, we support the women who are victims of rape by doing what we can to stop it now within our own social circles. As men, we have daughters, and sisters and mothers and girlfriends and wives and friends who are the victims of rape – this isn’t some ‘I’m guilty because I’m male’ nonsense, this is a reality that we have to confront honestly and we do it honestly because we care about a socially just society.

As a society we are deeply in denial.

One poster here has reminded us that intimidation doesn’t need to be as overt a display as rape, it can be in the way men stand too close and use threats in everyday life, as Men we forget that our physical size can be intimidating because we don’t feel it in a species where 50% are usually physically weaker than us. When we are blind to these things, we ignore them.

Let’s stop ignoring them.

The first step is the awful truth contained in this report.

200 complaints to police sex inquiry
The commission of inquiry into police conduct was flooded with up to 200 complaints of rape and sexual assaults by police that will never be publicly aired. The commission is due to report its findings at the end of the month but one of the women who sparked the inquiry says it was shut down from the beginning. The $3.6 million inquiry was set up in February 2004 to explore police handling of allegations of sex offending against their own and was supposed to take nine months. It was prompted by allegations by Louise Nicholas and Judith Garrett of historical sex offending. Announcing the inquiry, Prime Minister Helen Clark said several women had made similar complaints. "It is important that these ... are thoroughly investigated."
However, Mrs Nicholas and Mrs Garrett were excluded from taking part in the inquiry after the commission separated its work from police investigations. The inquiry was put on hold for 10 months. When it resumed the Government directed the commission to carry out investigations in private and make its findings "of a more general nature". The report is expected to focus on policy and procedure and will not include findings on individual complaints. Mrs Garrett said the inquiry should have been "short and transparent" and had failed her. "The commission of inquiry was prevented from doing its job by the police opening criminal investigations of such a historic nature that they must have known they were going to fail," she said. "Whoever thought of it, it was a clever move. It appeared to be doing something for the raped women in setting up a commission of inquiry and then within a fortnight ... the most serious complaints were rendered impossible for the commission to look at." The commission has refused to answer questions about the inquiry, but the Weekend Herald understands it was inundated with complaints, most from women. It did not refer any of the 200 cases to police investigating historical allegations. "That wasn't part of the terms of reference," a spokesman said. Details of the inquiry are likely never to surface, with transcripts kept secret and all evidence presented covered by confidentiality orders that are not subject to the Official Information Act. An Auckland psychotherapist who contacted the commission with her case has heard nothing from the inquiry since August 2004. She did not know what to expect from the report. "I hope the commission does highlight the violent culture that has been endemic in the police for many, many years," she said this week. "Women got raped and men got beaten up and sadly this is not uncommon. "My hope is by bringing this to light that there can be a shift in police culture so it is healthier, it is less sexist, less racist, less violent."