For about the last decade, the inexorable drift in rape and sexual assault cases in Ireland has been towards making court proceedings less traumatising for the alleged victim, and more challenging for the alleged perpetrator. Now, according to Ellen Coyne in the Irish Times yesterday, the Government intends to go yet further, making things even more difficult for accused persons in such cases:
“An “honest” belief that an alleged victim had consented to sex may no longer be a legal defence in rape cases if proposals being considered by the Government become law.