Saturday 7 January 2017

Thoughts On Saturday - Jill Saward, Trump and Shopping in PJ's

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Thoughts On Saturday - Jill Saward, Trump and Shopping in PJ's

Happy New Year and welcome to Thoughts On Saturday. On Thursday it was reported that Jill Saward had died aged 51. My first response was "who?" 
Jill Saward was raped during a burglary at her fathers vicarage in 1986. She was repeatedly raped by two men. A third burglar did not join in. It was labelled in the media the "Ealing Vicarage Rape". The men who raped Jill were sentenced to less time in prison than the man who didn't. The judge, Sir John Leonard said the trauma suffered by the victim was not so very great. I will repeat that, he said

the trauma suffered by the victim was not so very great.

A young woman is repeatedly raped in her home and it is decided that the burglary demands a higher sentence than rape. As you can imagine the public were outraged. This wasn't the only thing that annoyed the public, it was the media coverage. Jill's face was published with just her eyes backed out, her home was pictured with details of its location. She was easily identifiable, but this was not illegal then, only after the defendant was charged was a victims identity protected. MP's joined in and criticised both the lenient sentences and the media coverage. The law was changed a year later.

In 1990 Jill became the first rape victim in the UK to give up her right to anonymity. In her book Rape:My Story she discussed her ordeal and then went on to campaign for the rights of other victims of sexual assault.

So I would like to thank Jill Saward for being the person that helped change the way the media and the law treat victims of rape. It was her ordeal that gave everyone the right to appeal against lenient sentences and banned the media from identifying victims. Subsequently there were new laws passed including rape within marriage and new guidelines on the sentencing of sex offenders which give greater emphasis on the impact on the victim.

Trump

Now onto Donald Trump, I have not mentioned him before because really once I start where would I stop? His policies and opinions are a matter for the American people, if he doesn't deliver he can be voted out in four years time. That's democracy, that's why we are the free world. I watch from afar hoping that all will be well, that he's cleverer than he seems and hoping he really does have the people of America in his heart. 

The media reported this week that the US election wasn't democracy at work at all, there has been hacking with attempts to influence the results. The reports state that US intelligence has identified the Russian agents who have sent stolen Democratic emails to WikiLeaks to try to influence the election. The Russians are denying it, Trump is denying it. 

When Trump was campaigning for the Presidency he said that if Hilary Clinton won, the election was fixed, when he won he said it was fair and square. Throughout the campaign many things were said that angered, upset or disgusted me. The one thing that was always there was that it was the peoples choice, like it or not, and it could all be put right in four years time. That is now in doubt if the two most powerful men in the world decide to rig or bend or influence elections then the peoples choice will not happen. This worries me far more than threats of building walls and sending emails from the wrong account. 

Shopping in PJ's

Do you go shopping in your PJ's? Maybe in a onesie or barefoot? Every morning on my way to work I saw a mother walk her children to the bus stop in her pyjama's. I don't know any of these peoples circumstances, maybe they have no other clothes. Maybe they think its normal because all their friends and family do it. I don't do it and it doesn't bother me.

Clothes are so diverse nowadays that who is to say what are pjs and what is just bad taste? As long as they don't expect me to do it then its ok with me.
A man in Salford asked Tesco via Facebook to ban shoppers from wearing pyjamas. Tesco commented that they didn't have a dress code and shoppers could wear whatever they liked within the realms of decency. He should move to St Mellons in Cardiff, Tesco there banned pjs and barefeet back in 2010.



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