#LifeAfterRape
Donation protected
UPDATE:
This GoFundMe has allowed me to connect with a huge number of amazing people. Many of you have told me your stories, and you've all listened to mine. I could not be more proud of all that we have accomplished here in less than a year.
While I still have legal bills to pay from getting this far - there's a very big bit of news that I wanted to put up top here, because it changes everything and more importantly, it changes what you are giving money to if you decide to do so.
As of right now, any private prosecution is paused. I had to get creative once the bill for legal advice came in at half the total of all money raised. Suddenly everything seemed impossible. That there was no way to go forward because I could never raise enough money to take it forward. And worse, the advice I received (from a top QC that does work for the CPS from time to time as Prosecutor) was that the law was clearly broken and there was ample evidence to mount and win a voyeurism case.
Since the law broken, and the police and CPS didn't know that the law existed back when they investigated things in 2015/2016, they never actually looked at the video he took of me as a crime. Which gave me an idea.
I filed a police report.
I am giving the police and the CPS a do over.
I considered taking this page down this morning once I received the crime number from the investigating office, but have left it up because of the messages, connections and encouragement I have had from the community of people who have come together to support me.
Any money given will go to pay off legal bills incurred so far, help keep this story alive, and help me and my daughter get through this. If you'd rather give to an amazing charity doing fantastic work in this space, consider donating to the Centre for Women's Justice: https://www.centreforwomensjustice.org.uk/donate
UPDATE:
For the moment, we are parking the rape prosecution. BUT we are still taking forward the UK's first crowdfunded private prosecution of a sexual offence: voyeurism.
This has been a difficult decision to make - and I will update here with more soon. I just wanted to be sure to put it here now.
We are still raising money though, because there will still be a private prosecution. But the upside is that it is going to be much cheaper. So I've lowered the target that we're aiming for.
Check back soon for more detail.
----original story----
In May of 2015, I woke up naked and terrified on a hotel bed next to a man I'd never seen before. Something was very wrong.
I suspected that I been drugged, and as I found out later, I had been raped.
I did everything right after that: the police had me, my rapist and the hotel room immediately. But me and my case fell through every crack there was.
The last straw was when I met with the Crown Prosecution Service on 2 November 2016, and they told me that there is nothing that they are going to do. Even though I sat there with my lawyer and explained over and over again that the toxicology analysis was done based on the wrong timeline, that the man who raped me hadn't had so much as a sip of alcohol, that some law had to have been broken when my rapist took a 1 minute and 2 second video of me unconsious and naked on a hotel bed without my consent.
The CPS have an abysmal record when it comes to rape, and they just can't be bothered with my case.
But I still want justice.
Luckily: I've found a great barrister. And this story is not over. Which is why I need your help.
As I am in the UK, I can bring a private prosecution. That is, I can pay a (very expensive) barrister to bring charges against my rapist. I can pay someone to do the Crown Prosecution Service's job for them. Given the evidence, this would likely result in jail time for him. But this is a very expensive endeavour and I can't do it my own.
Please help. Every little bit helps.
This GoFundMe has allowed me to connect with a huge number of amazing people. Many of you have told me your stories, and you've all listened to mine. I could not be more proud of all that we have accomplished here in less than a year.
While I still have legal bills to pay from getting this far - there's a very big bit of news that I wanted to put up top here, because it changes everything and more importantly, it changes what you are giving money to if you decide to do so.
As of right now, any private prosecution is paused. I had to get creative once the bill for legal advice came in at half the total of all money raised. Suddenly everything seemed impossible. That there was no way to go forward because I could never raise enough money to take it forward. And worse, the advice I received (from a top QC that does work for the CPS from time to time as Prosecutor) was that the law was clearly broken and there was ample evidence to mount and win a voyeurism case.
Since the law broken, and the police and CPS didn't know that the law existed back when they investigated things in 2015/2016, they never actually looked at the video he took of me as a crime. Which gave me an idea.
I filed a police report.
I am giving the police and the CPS a do over.
I considered taking this page down this morning once I received the crime number from the investigating office, but have left it up because of the messages, connections and encouragement I have had from the community of people who have come together to support me.
Any money given will go to pay off legal bills incurred so far, help keep this story alive, and help me and my daughter get through this. If you'd rather give to an amazing charity doing fantastic work in this space, consider donating to the Centre for Women's Justice: https://www.centreforwomensjustice.org.uk/donate
UPDATE:
For the moment, we are parking the rape prosecution. BUT we are still taking forward the UK's first crowdfunded private prosecution of a sexual offence: voyeurism.
This has been a difficult decision to make - and I will update here with more soon. I just wanted to be sure to put it here now.
We are still raising money though, because there will still be a private prosecution. But the upside is that it is going to be much cheaper. So I've lowered the target that we're aiming for.
Check back soon for more detail.
----original story----
In May of 2015, I woke up naked and terrified on a hotel bed next to a man I'd never seen before. Something was very wrong.
I suspected that I been drugged, and as I found out later, I had been raped.
I did everything right after that: the police had me, my rapist and the hotel room immediately. But me and my case fell through every crack there was.
The last straw was when I met with the Crown Prosecution Service on 2 November 2016, and they told me that there is nothing that they are going to do. Even though I sat there with my lawyer and explained over and over again that the toxicology analysis was done based on the wrong timeline, that the man who raped me hadn't had so much as a sip of alcohol, that some law had to have been broken when my rapist took a 1 minute and 2 second video of me unconsious and naked on a hotel bed without my consent.
The CPS have an abysmal record when it comes to rape, and they just can't be bothered with my case.
But I still want justice.
Luckily: I've found a great barrister. And this story is not over. Which is why I need your help.
As I am in the UK, I can bring a private prosecution. That is, I can pay a (very expensive) barrister to bring charges against my rapist. I can pay someone to do the Crown Prosecution Service's job for them. Given the evidence, this would likely result in jail time for him. But this is a very expensive endeavour and I can't do it my own.
Please help. Every little bit helps.
Organizer
Emily Hunt
Organizer