Tag: false allegations

What if the police and prosecution were told to ‘believe all victims of false allegations’?

Posted on by foluke.adebisi

By Dr Michael Naughton, Reader in Sociology and Law (University of Bristol Law School and  School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies (SPAIS)).

I have written previously about why language matters. Put simply, language matters because it is the words or phrases that we use that shapes and reflects how we think, feel and act as individuals in response to social and/or legal issues such as alleged sexual offences or alleged false allegations, which is the subject of this article. With this in mind, in evaluating the intended provocation in the title, ‘What the police and prosecution were told to believe all victims of false allegations?’, it is crucial that the key terms are clearly defined at the start of any analysis. (more…)

Innocence Art and the Art of Innocence

Posted on by foluke.adebisi

by Dr Michael Naughton, Reader in Sociology and Law (University of Bristol Law School and  School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies (SPAIS))

Andy Malkinson by Sean Bw Parker

The purpose of this article is to formally launch the Innocence Art project under the auspices of Empowering the Innocent (ETI). In so doing, it charts the origins of the concept ‘innocence art’ and how it relates to ‘the art of innocence’, a dedicated approach to producing counter discourse through forms of innocence art to challenge the dominant discourses and existing criminal justice system arrangements in relation to false allegations, wrongful convictions and wrongful imprisonment. It concludes with a call to those affected by false allegations, wrongful convictions or wrongful imprisonment, whether direct or secondary victims, to participate in the art of innocence by submitting forms of innocence art, whether images of paintings, drawings or photographs, poems, stories or other literary works, to feature on Empowering the Innocent (ETI) websites as deemed appropriate. (more…)

Project: False Allegations Watch (FAW)

Posted on by foluke.adebisi

 by Michael Naughton, the Law School, University of Bristol

Introduction: The competing camps on alleged sexual offences

Our existing contemporary moment can be characterised in terms of an increasingly divided society along strict adversarial lines. Whether it be the recent public conversations about Brexit, COVID vaccinations, climate change or mere routine day-to-day political debates, there seems little or no place for balance, nuance, nor objectivity. Indeed, in whatever debate one cares to consider, the choice presented to us seems to be to simply pick a side where: ‘you are either with us or against us’; ‘in or out’; ‘one of us or one of them’; ‘a friend or an enemy’. (more…)