Under pressure
May 19, 2011
British opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband called on Prime Minister David Cameron to fire his justice secretary after controversial remarks he made about the seriousness of rape on a morning radio program.
Kenneth Clarke was discussing a government plan that could allow certain rape sentences to be cut in half in cases of an early guilty plea. Presented with statistics by the BBC Radio 5 Live's host Victoria Derbyshire that indicated that the average sentence for rape was five years, Clarke argued that the figures were skewed because they included sentencing for date rape, "17-year-olds having intercourse with 15-year-olds."
"I don't think many judges give five years for a forcible rape, frankly. The tariff is longer than that," he said. "And a serious rape with violence and an unwilling woman, the tariff is much longer than that."
Then Derbyshire interjected: "Rape is rape, with respect."
"No, it's not," Clarke replied.
"If there is an 18-year-old [who] has sex with a 15-year-old and she is perfectly willing, that is rape. Because she is underage, she cannot consent," he continued. "If anybody has sex with a 15-year-old it's rape. So what you and I are talking about is we are talking about a man forcefully having sex with a woman when she does not want to."
A partial apology
Clarke set off a firestorm of criticism from Labour and from women's groups. Clarke "cannot speak for the women of this country when he makes comments like that," said Miliband.
Vivienne Hayes, head of the Women's Resource Centre, said Clarke's comments "smack not only of ignorance but of outright misogyny."
Throughout the day on Wednesday, Clarke made several media appearances in which he refused to apologize. Under pressure, however, he eventually wrote a letter of apology to a rape victim who broke down in tears on the radio show during a conversation with him about the government's plans.
"I have always believed that all rape is extremely serious, and must be treated as such," Clarke wrote. "I am sorry if my comments gave any other impression or upset you."
Author: Holly Fox (AFP, AP)
Editor: Nicole Goebel