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62 Prob. J. 3 (2015)

handle is hein.journals/probj62 and id is 1 raw text is: Editorial Thy o al o o aof Conyn amm s Probation Journal 2015, Vol. 621) 3-6 The right to © Th Athorts)2015 * * *e Reprints and permissions: rehabilitation after sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0264550515573103 punishment? psguc OSAGE The public debate surrounding the Ched Evans case has brought into sharp focus the issues surrounding the rehabilitation of those convicted of sexual offences and society's attitudes to male violence, consent, and the treatment of the victims of serious sexual crime. Evans is a professional footballer who was released from prison in October 2014, having served half of a five-year sentence for the rape of a 19 year-old woman in 2011. The brief circumstances of the case are that the woman had met a friend of Evans, who was also a professional footballer, and went back to a hotel room with him. Having received a text from his friend, Evans went to the hotel, let himself into the room and watched his friend and the woman having sex before taking part himself. The prosecution claimed that while the attack happened, other friends of the footballer watched through a window (Kelly, 2015). He continues to maintain his innocence, claiming that though drunk the woman consented to sex, and at the time of writing the Criminal Cases Review Committee is conducting an investigation into his conviction. Attempts to re-sign him by his former club have been thwarted by public opposition and perhaps more tellingly the threat of removal of commercial sponsorship. Since his release Evans has expressed scant empathy for his victim and has maintained that she consented to sexual activity. Media reporting of the case has often seemed to be as much about the victim's behaviour as that of the perpetrator in terms of how inebriated she was at the time of the offence and whether or not she was in a position to give her consent. Ched Evans' supporters have set up a website dedicated to clearing his name and recent reports suggest that the victim has had to change her identity on a number of occasions to avoid internet abuse and harassment. Her experience is hardly likely to instil confidence amongst other victims of serious sexual offences who seek redress through the criminal process. It is a startling statistic that around 10,000 women are sexually assaulted and 2000 women raped every week in England and Wales and that over three million women have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lives (Government Equalities Office/Home Office, 2010). More than four out of every five victims of rape are either under 18 years old, are raped in circumstances involving drug and/or alcohol use, have mental health problems or are raped in circumstances related to domestic violence (Stern, 2010). Yet a survey of victims of rape (Kelly et al., 2005) found a culture

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