Special forms are being rolled out in England and Wales to understand whether it is a good idea to access mobile phones and social media of a rape victim. Today we all practically live our lives through phones. The first thing we want to see as we open our eyes is scrolling memes through social media pages.
But is it a good idea to depend on a technology that opens our life to multiple people around the world. Increasing rape cases are something that triggers every newspaper’s headlines and the law and prosecutors are criticised for their ill management with the case.
It is a part of the enquiry in such delicate cases to have all the information and facts regarding the clear picture of the scenario. A lot of women who are victims of the horrendous crime, suffer all over the world with the right to be exposed to the world.
This initiative has been recommended to eliminate the loose end cases and built up facts with pieces of evidence. A lot of victims may have some link or background with the defendant, something to trigger the reason behind the act of shame.
It’s still a question whether this would be a positive change or not. Cases with such crucial circumstances require the victim’s consent at every point. It becomes mandatory for the police and prosecutors to have a clear picture and as many pieces of evidence on the plate to reach justice for the victim.
The initiative heated as many recent cases were solved with the prolonged judgement due to lack of pieces of evidence and information that saw the light of the day after many delays.
Director of Public Prosecution Max Hill, added, digital devices will only be looked at when it forms a ‘reasonable line of enquiry’ and only ‘relevant’ material will go before a court if it meets ‘hard and fast’ rules.
We enable our mobile phones with protective passwords and pins just to avoid any kind of breach of privacy. For the victims to hand over their phones and let the police investigate through their personal files and emails might trigger some connect to the solving of the cases. But it is a big ‘if’. Is it a good idea to put a victim of such horrible events at a vulnerable position is a question that is in the minds of the people.
