The alarming rise of the rough sex defence

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Too many women’s lives are ending after what those accused of their deaths say were ‘sex games gone wrong’. Anna Moore looks at why strangling has become so normalised. And: Helen Pidd looks back on the general election week

Since December 2018, a group of women have attempted to gather stories of use of the “sex games gone wrong” defence in cases where women have died. The result is the website We Can’t Consent to This. In the past decade, such killings have risen by 90%. Two-thirds involve strangulation.

The Guardian journalist Anna Moore tells Rachel Humphreys why choking during sex is on the rise. Numerous studies have shown that non-fatal strangulation is one of the highest markers for future homicide, which is why Australia, New Zealand, Canada and most US states have developed preventive legislation to strengthen police, prosecutorial and sentencing policies that surround it. Yet in the UK, it can fall under battery, the mildest assault possible. But led by Harriet Harman, women are campaigning for a change in the law.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ON6xNO

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