Poor Boy! Remorseful Rapist is Let Go With 3 Year Detention

A 13-year-old British boy beat and raped a 20-year-old woman in front of his 10- and 11-year-old friends, who were yelling at him to stop. He bragged about what he did to his victim's boyfriend while speaking to him on her phone, stole her purse, and later sold her phone and i-pod. Oh those poor, poor rapists! They feel so badly for what they've done to their victims. Poor rapists. Poor young, old, any nationality, color, religion, or socioeconomic status rapists. The British court let the rapist go with only a 3 year detention. Poor boy! Maybe we should just let them all off without serving any time or parole. Why not just take rape out of the judicial code altogether? After all, if they're remorseful, they'll barely serve any time anyway.

Does remorse change history? Does it heal the victim? The answer is, "No!" Rapists can now play upon the courts' sympathies by saying they're remorseful so that they will "get off" with lesser sentences. Nothing like the court and judicial system also raping the victim.

When will judicial systems around the world begin taking a tough stance on rape and domestic violence? When 1 in 3 women and girls will be raped or experience violence in their lifetime, why are courts still enabling the perpetrators of rape and violence? I don't care that the perpetrator was 13 years old. He knew that what he was doing was wrong and still chose to do it. He should face and live with the full consequences of his actions, just as his victim will for the rest of her life. Judicial systems around the world should try under-age rapists as adults. People who rape are not the victims and the world should stop treating them as such.

As for my own country, shame on us! Our Senators still haven't even ratified the UN Women's Rights Treaty - CEDAW - Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Incidences of rape and violence against women in the US are increasing, and there is a huge rape-kit backlog that delays the serving of justice on perpetrators of rape. Criminals have a right to a speedy trial. Why don't rape victims have the right to require the criminal evidence of their rape taken from their violated bodies be processed just as quickly?

U.S. Senate Should Ratify CEDAW: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/12/18/us-jumpstart-ratification-women-s-rights-treaty

Soaring Rates of Rape & Violence AgainstWomen: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/18/us-soaring-rates-rape-and-violence-against-women

Sexual Assault Bill: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/11/05/us-senate-move-quickly-sexual-assault-bill

Rape kit backlog: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/12/14/united-states-senate-should-act-rape-investigations

British Boy Given a 3 Year Sentence for Brutally Raping and Beating a Woman: http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/13yearold-british-boy-gets-just-threeyear-detention-for-raping-woman-2033337.html