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Article: Why No has to mean No in rape says top lawman.
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- December 19, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: DAWN THOMPSON
SCOTLAND'S rape laws are archaic pieces of legislation based on the view that women are the possessions of men, a court heard yesterday.
Lord Advocate Colin Boyd, QC, told the Court of Session in Edinburgh that current laws dated from an age when women had no independent status.
Mr Boyd was speaking at a special hearing to review existing legislation prompted by a case earlier this year which called into question the legal definition of rape.
Student Edward Watt, now 24, was cleared of repeatedly raping a 19-year-old fellow undergraduate even though it was acknowledged in court that she had not consented to sex.