MSP backs rape centre funding

DIRECT government funding is needed for rape crisis centres to help raise awareness of the legal definition of the crime, a Labour MSP has said.

By The Newsroom

Published 5th Sep 2012, 01:00 BST

Justice secretary Kenny Mac-Askill should consider the move following Respect MP George Galloway’s suggestion that WikiLeaks campaigner  Julian Assange is accused of no more than bad “sexual etiquette” rather than rape and sexual  assault, said Siobhan McMahon.

Speaking at Holyrood, she asked the Scottish Government “what action it will take to ensure young people across Scotland have access to the relevant information regarding the legal and practical definition of rape”.

Mr MacAskill said legislation which came into effect in 2010 provides a simple, easy-to-understand definition of the crime.