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Originally Posted by GullFoss
Harder...not much harder. I think the conviction rate is 40% of sexual assault, 50% for physical assualt, and 60% for all crimes.
Sexual assualt is often so grey IMO...even in the moment. Its very hard to figure out consent sometimes.
Sometimes i think sexual assault can actually be in the eye of the beholder. I think a lot of victims genuinely feel like victims within the narrative in their heads, even though a lot of accused genuinely feel like they had consent in the narrative within their head.
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As someone who prosecuted and defended lots of sexual assaults, many of them go like this:
"I woke up with him touching me/raping me"
"That's a lie, I never did that"
With no physical evidence, no other eye witnesses, just plan old he said she said. Sometimes the victim calls their friends or runs to their family immediately and tells them what happens and they go to the police. But that doesn't create any real evidence, a judge can't interpret that reaction as reinforcing the truthfulness of the allegation.
Judge says, "I wasn't there, I can't say for sure it happened, I think it probably happened. But I can't say for 100% certainty. And acquits.
The difference between sexual assaults and many other offences is that there is usually more evidence ie assaults have bruises that are photographed, or witnessed by other people.
If I was sexually assaulted by someone with money, I'd sue the pants off them. You only need to get over a balance of probabilities. But then again, you'd need money up front to pay a lawyer. However, from my experience, most people who are charged with sexual assault have little or no money.