'Rape victims can be partly responsible for their ordeal' says top woman barrister

'Moral responsibility': Barbara Hewson, a prominent barrister, suggested some victims may be partly responsible for being raped

Rape victims can be partly responsible for what happened to them, according to a leading lawyer.
Barbara Hewson, a human rights and civil liberties barrister at London's Hardwicke Chambers, challenged the idea that 'the victim is utterly innocent and the victimiser is utterly guilty'.
Miss Hewson, who describes herself on Twitter as 'not for the easily offended', suggested that people who are raped can have a 'moral responsibility' for the crime, even though the law says that rape is only ever the fault of the rapist.
She also questioned whether 'claims of victimisation must always be respected', according to The Daily Telegraph.
Miss Hewson, 52, made the comments during a debate with other legal professionals at the London School of Economics on Wednesday, entitled 'Is Rape Different?'
She said: 'We need to make a distinction between legal responsibility and moral responsibility.
'The law does not attribute any responsibility now to the victim of rape whereas traditionally we know the judge would say when they came to sentence "well she was contributorally [sic] negligent" or something like that.'
While outlining what she views as the received wisdom when discussing, Miss Hewson dismissed the idea 'that it's morally absolutely unambiguous, the victim is utterly innocent and the victimiser is utterly guilty and this is infinitesimal. And finally that claims of victimisation must always be respected, anything less is victim-blaming.'

Miss Hewson compared a rape victim to somebody who falls over whilst drunk to demonstrate that people can put themselves in a situation where they are more likely to fall victim to a crime.
She also attacked a culture around rape which encourages people to 'realise' they have been raped, and added that some victims go on to blame their ordeal for everything that goes wrong in their life.

Rape Crisis spokesman Fiona Elvines condemned Miss Hewson's argument, telling the Telegraph:  'Barbara Hewson shows how out of touch she is with the realities of sexual violence. As a society, we have moved on from the rape myths she continues to propagate.'
Miss Hewson, a Cambridge graduate who has worked as a barrister since 1985, has courted controversy on sexual offences before, by attacking the decision to double the sentence for broadcaster Stuart Hall.
His original sentence of 15 months in prison for 14 counts of indecent assault was increased to 30 months after a public outcry.
She has also previously called for the age of consent to be lowered to 13 and criticised the 'witch-hunt' of ageing celebrities accused of sexual abuse.
Miss Hewson was unavailable for comment this morning.

A LAW UNTO HERSELF: THE CONTROVERSIAL BARRISTER WHO'S NOT AFRAID TO SPEAK HER MIND

Barbara Hewson has made a name for herself both as one of the country's most respected lawyers, and as someone not afraid to ruffle some feathers with her outspoken views.
A member of the prestigious Hardwicke Chambers, Miss Hewson, who was called to the bar in 1985, is regularly ranked in the Legal 500 directory.
She has won a Barrister of the Year award from The Lawyer magazine after she fought for the rights of pregnant women against compulsory treatment.
The Chambers UK guide has variously described her as ‘bright, committed and passionate’, ‘well-respected’, ‘highly diplomatic’ and ‘a tough opponent’.
She writes on legal issues for the Spiked website, and is often highly critical of the establishment.
Miss Hewson has stepped into the firing line on numerous occasions in the past.
Responding to the controversial case in which a judge described a 13-year-old sex attack victim as ‘predatory’, she tweeted: ‘It takes two to tango. Disgusting tho' these men are, frankly the girls are often not much better - and no shrieking martyrs.'
She has also said that operation Yewtree, into sex abuse linked to Jimmy Savile, ‘has got out of hand’ and was hijacked by ‘moral crusaders’.
A storm of criticism met that suggestion, and she has also angered the NPCC by suggesting at the same time that the age of consent be lowered to 13.
At the time an NSPCC spokesman said: ‘To trivialise the impact of these offences for victims is all but denying they have suffered abuse at all.’

dailymail.co.uk