Workers in music, film, TV and theatre may not feel they can speak up about abuse, but the authority I lead is able to help them
- Helena Kennedy KC is a Labour peer and the chair of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority
Russell Brand was sentenced to more than 10 years in jail yesterday, after being convicted of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. The details that emerged from his case have been shocking and at times deeply disturbing. We have witnessed the bravery of the women who came forward to seek justice – and the brazen and brutal sense of entitlement exhibited by a pampered star at the height of his fame.
The Brand trial brought into sharp relief many of the victim-blaming attitudes I have spent my professional life as a criminal barrister trying to challenge. Old tropes emerged about victims not screaming out during rape and not reporting immediately. This is why lawyers who conduct sex cases should be required to hold a certificate that they have undergone recent additional training. The justice system has to provide women with a fair opportunity to obtain justice, without subjecting them to discriminatory assumptions and further trauma.
Helena Kennedy KC is a Labour peer and the chair of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority