[THIS WEEK's 'Police' programme on the Thames Valley…]

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THIS WEEK's 'Police' programme on the Thames Valley constabulary's treatment of a rape victim shows that the Theiseene ammes are not Jar from the mark in their portrayal of police violence.

The Thames Valley constabulary may not have been physically violent, but they left Reagan and Carter standtale shoe Party ing when it came to logical hammering.

A woman had claimed she had been forced into the back of a van by three men, driven to a house, then forced to have sex with all of them under the threat of being cut up and thrown in the river if she did not cooperate.

Within minutes of the SOL DARNOSE start of the programme, it was obvious that the police had decided that it was not a 'serious' allegation. They had decided that she was of dubious psychiatric background (she had had a nervous breakdown and been treated in the psychiatric hospital following her divorce), and that she had obviously tactically agreed - implying that she either didn't know her own mind or couldn't say no anyway.

They therefore proceeded to undermine her and force her to drop the charges.

Their lines of argument were that it didn't really happen like she said, because she must have agreed to go with the men; or that, whether or not it happened, she did not want to press charges because she would not have gone to the police if her boyfriend had not told her to. She didn't want to go through the hassle of the court proceedings.

The last argument was the one that wore her down, and she dropped the charges.

The police gave an example of some of the worst of the things that are wrong with our society's attitude to women, and how the police are there 1o protect property and not people.

Barrage

One of them said it was just one of those things that happened. , but she could get over it if she was strong enough. Very jew women are strong enough to go through a police barrage alone after rape; and still come out willing to fight for the charges to be pressed.

Another CID man said he though! she had agreed to go back for coffee, and things just got out of hand. If I had agreed to a cup of coffer, and ended up heinr Jorced to have sexual intercourse with three men, 1 would say that things had more than got out of hand! , If a man had gone to the police saying he had gone for. coffee with three people and been robbed under the threat of being knifed, they would not have said things had got out of hand and he had tacitly agreed. But women are worth less than property in our society.

Guilty

The programme ended with a superior, who had not been involved, saying, 'That's the second this month that's ended like that'. And the CID man involved said, In all my years only one hasn't. And that one turned out to be someone she knew, so nothing came of it' lif you know the man, it obviously can't be rape!)

The basis of their attitude was that women often lie, they are unstable, and women are guilty by being there.