British backpacker Grace Millane was strangled to death, crammed into a suitcase and buried in a New Zealand woodland after a Tinder date in December 2018.On Thursday her killer, a 28-year-old man, was sentenced to life imprisonment with minimum 17 year non-parole period.The Courts of New Zealand said in a statement: “Overall, the circumstances of the murder showed a high-level of callousness, including: the intimate nature of the murder itself.”In his November 2019 trial, the prosecution argued that the man — whose name cannot be released due to a suppression order — “eroticized” Millane’s death because of a “morbid sexual interest,” and the court heard how he had taken “trophy” photos of her body and watched violent pornography while her body lay in the room.New Zealand jury finds 27-year-old man guilty of murder of British backpackerThe key pillar of the man’s defense was that Millane, 21, enjoyed “rough sex,” and that her death was an accident that came about as a result of consensual choking. As a consequence, media coverage of the trial was filled with details about Millane’s personal life and alleged sexual preferences, even as the accused remained anonymous.Claims of a “sex game gone wrong” are not new. Some politicians and media outlets have even begun to refer to them as the “50 Shades” defense, after the popular “50 Shades of Grey” books and movies, which recount a woman’s relationship with a man who introduces her to BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism, and masochism) sexual practices.
A rise in claims
At least 60 UK women have been killed in episodes of so-called “consensual” sexual violence since 1972, with at least 18 women dying in the last five years, according to the advocacy group We Can’t Consent To This.In 45% of those killings, the claim that a woman’s injuries were sustained during a sex game “gone wrong” resulted in a lesser charge, a lighter sentence, an acquittal, or the death not being investigated, the group said.Susan Edwards, a barrister and professor of law at the University of Buckingham, told CNN that 30 or 40 years ago, it was unlikely that a defendant would claim that the victim consented to sexual violence.
A woman lights candles during a vigil for murdered British tourist Grace Millane at Cathedral Square in Christchurch, New Zealand, in December 2018.”He would be less likely then, I think, to try and use as an excuse that she had consented to sexual violence,” said Edwards, who has been tracking and working on domestic violence cases since the 1980s.”And if he had, then it would have been extremely doubted — it wouldn’t have gone in any way to his credit that he was trying to use such a totally unbelievable excuse,” she added.”Now, regrettably, there are some people that might be willing to believe it because we now live in a world where some people are tolerating this commercial sexualization of violence,” she added.Now, claiming an assault or homicide was a case of “rough sex gone wrong” would not work as a defense, Edwards said, but could have some “mitigatory impact” on a defendant’s culpability, and sentencing. In some cases, defendants could be handed sentences with no jail time.”To establish murder, there has to be intention. So, if they can convince the jury that there was no intention to kill, then the verdict will be one of manslaughter,” added Edwards, who has been working to make strangulation a standalone offense in the UK. In the UK, strangulation or choking is only charged if it occurs in the course of committing some other indictable offense, such as rape.Non-fatal strangulation by an intimate partner is considered an important “risk factor” for the homicide of women, indicating a greater likelihood that they will eventually be killed. A 2008 study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Virginia found that experiencing a non-fatal strangulation by an intimate partner made a woman six times more likely to be the victim of an attempted murder and seven times more likely to be the victim of homicide. Two thirds of the cases We Can’t Consent to This studied involved strangulation, the group’s founder, Fiona Mackenzie, told CNN.
People walk in a silent march to remember Grace Millane in Auckland, New Zealand, in December 2018.Making strangulation an offense in and of itself would, Edwards says, be an important step in protecting women.”An offense of strangulation would recognize the potential seriousness — the threat and fear occasioned. Otherwise, it is lost in common assault, or assault, which does not take into consideration the life threatening potential or the degree of fear that is created for the victim,” she added.”That would send a symbolic message that this behavior isn’t tolerated, and hopefully would be part of a preventive measure that would prevent the escalation of these cases which result in death,” Edwards told CNN.
