LONDON, Feb 21 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Men accused of murder
should not be allowed to use rough sex as a legal defence, women's rights
advocates said on Friday, after the killer of a British backpacker was jailed
for life in a case that drew fresh scrutiny on the issue.
Grace Millane, 22, was visiting New Zealand when she was murdered. Her
attacker pleaded not guilty to murder, saying she died accidentally during
consensual sex, but a jury rejected his defence and convicted him in November.
Women's rights campaigners called for a ban on the "rough sex" defence,
saying the normalisation of violent sex in popular culture meant men facing
criminal charges for harming women were increasingly claiming that the
violence was consensual.
Research by the British campaign group We Can't Consent to This found
men avoided charges of murder in more than one in three of 60 killings of
women and girls where the defence was used.