A Right to Be Believed? Testimony in Sexual Abuse Cases (the Forum)

Sexual offences have frequently gone unpunished because victims have not been believed. This stands in the way of justice and constitutes an additional wrong; according to one victim, not being believed by the police “was almost worse than the rape itself”. In light of this, many have called for a “right to be believed”. But how can this be reconciled with the principle of “innocent until proven guilty”? And when, if at all, do we have a right that someone should believe our testimony? Our panel – a philosopher, a barrister, and a legal theorist – will debate these questions.

;Speakers
Louise Ellison, Professor of Law, School of Law, University of Leeds
Gloria Origgi, Researcher, Institut Jean Nicod, CNRS, Paris
Stephen Vullo QC, Criminal Barrister

Chair
Peter Dennis, Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method (LSE) and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow

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