This petition was submitted during the 2015 to 2017 Parliament
Rejected petition Remove provision in Sect 41 of YJ&CE Act 1999 allowing previous sexual history
Rejected on
The appeal of Chedwyn Evans v R (2016) and the subsequent retrial of R v Chedwyn Evans (2016) allowed evidence into court of a complainant's sexual history. This was subject to judicial scrutiny because of the concern over how it was obtained. It traumatised a woman in court and women out of it.
Information revealed post-trial criticised the reward offered for such witness testimony. This is concerning for all complainants. The fact that such tenuous "coincidence" as the words used during consensual sexual activity can be admitted as valid evidence that a victim is lying is deeply worrying and open to severe abuse by defence teams. Media amplification means the application of this could now increase and convictions decrease accordingly. It must end.
Why was this petition rejected?
There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.
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https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/169433
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