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Regressive approaches to sentencing will not help children or society
Áine Kervick
It’s the incendiary network exposing the rape culture endemic in our schools — but are innocent teenage boys getting caught in the crossfire?
Everyone's Invited, founded by 22-year old Soma Sara, has galvanised a movement. Many victims have felt empowered to report and name their attackers for the first time. Dulwich College in south-east London and Latymer Upper in Hammersmith — two institutions named on Everyone’s Invited — have now started reporting their own pupils to police and local authorities, and some people are going straight to the police.
Sandra Paul, one of London’s top criminal lawyers with firm Kingsley Napley, says her cases of this nature have risen by 50 per cent since March, with dozens of anxious and frightened parents hiring her in a bid to clear their sons’ names. The testimonials on the site are all anonymous as explained by founder Sara.
“Anonymity is very important to Everyone’s Invited, most importantly for survivors so they have a safe place to share anonymously, but also so that the individuals mentioned in the testimonies cannot be identified."
The full version of this article was published in the Evening Standard on 5 July 2021 which you can read by clicking here. This article has also been republished in Yahoo News & MSN News.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information on the issues raised in this blog post, please contact a member of our criminal litigation team.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sandra Paul is a partner in our Criminal Litigation team. She has a wealth of experience in criminal and related litigation. The majority of her work concerns defending allegations of sexual misconduct. She works with clients in the UK and abroad, including allegations following the #MeToo campaign.
She has a particular passion and aptitude for working with children and young adults, navigating them safely through the youth justice system. Youth crime is a specialist area in which Sandra is a leader in her field.
Drawing on her advocacy experience, Sandra is particularly accomplished in preparing witnesses to give an account or evidence in settings ranging from court proceedings through to internal and external investigations or inquiries. Sandra’s career has included discreet representation of high profile individuals including politicians, bankers, music, sports and media personalities.
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