Helmsdale father's pride in success of daughter's 'We Can't Consent To This' domestic abuse legislation campaign
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A Helmsdale father has spoken of his pride in his daughter, who has been instrumental in achieving a “milestone” change in domestic abuse legislation.
Fiona Mackenzie, who now lives in London, has been lobbying for 18 months against the controversial so-called ‘rough sex gone wrong’ legal defence. Increasingly used in recent years, the defence can see a murder charge reduced to manslaughter on the grounds the victim ‘consented’.
And Ms Mackenzie (38), a former Golspie High School pupil, had cause to celebrate on July 6 after MPs ruled unanimously in favour of the new Domestic Abuse Bill, which contains a clause banning the rough sex defence.
It has been hailed as a landmark piece of legislation that could save lives.
Dad Colin Mackenzie, a civil engineer consultant, said: ”I am very impressed by what Fiona has achieved and her late mother Moira would have been immensely proud of her. I have followed her campaign with amazement at the worldwide interest in it. I think it is great what she is doing.”
Ms Mackenzie, who was recently appointed a Trustee of campaigning charity the Centre for Womens Justice, first became aware of the rough sex legal defence - also known as the ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ defence - while studying mathematics at Aberdeen University. She graduated with first class honours and went on to become an actuary.
“I was in Aberdeen at the time of the Mandy Barclay killing. Her husband used the rough sex defence and got a tiny sentence,” she said. “The case was reported in detail and Mandy’s life was exposed in a horrible way. She was the one that had died but she was being blamed for it. It made such an impression on me as a young woman.”
It was during a Christmas holiday break in 2018 and with time on her hands that Ms Mackenzie founded the campaign group We Can’t Consent To This and set up a website.
She was spurred into action by the Natalie Connolly case sentencing. Natalie was killed by her partner who said the injuries inflicted on her were part of consensual sex. He was sentenced to three years and eight months.
“It started as a research project,” said Ms Mackenzie. “I wanted to see how many cases involving the rough sex defence I could find. I searched every single local newspaper in the UK. I thought I would find 10 or 12 but I found 35 within a week.
She was soon joined by a core of 15 “fantastic, dedicated” people committed to changing the law. A breakthrough came six months later when the campaign was featured in a national newspaper and reached a wide audience.
“There has been a huge amount of political engagement in the last nine months,” said Ms Mackenzie. “We have contacted every MP in the country and sent out multiple research briefings. We have undertaken a lot of detailed research.”
MPs Harriet Harman and Mark Garnier were the main political leaders to spearhead the campaign.
The new Domestic Abuse Bill was postponed at the end of 2019 when Boris Johnson prorogued parliament. Prior to it going before the House of Commons on July 6, Justice minister Alex Chalk announced in Parliament in that it would be amended to ban the rough sex defence.
Ms Mackenzie told the Northern Times: “We are very chuffed, but making it all work and making sure it is applied is the next challenge. It will take time for attitudes to change in the Criminal Justice system,
The Bill, which now needs to be debated in the House of Lords, covers England and Wales.
But Ms Mackenzie already has her sights trained on Scotland and Northern Ireland, saying: “We’ve been in touch with MSPs and already had a couple of mentions in the Scottish Parliament from Joan McAlpine and Ruth Maguire and Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has offered to speak to us. There is plenty still to do.”
