Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley and long-time campaigner for victims' rights, has expressed shock and outrage over the case of Sarah Steele, a British woman abused in the UK but tried in a US military court that denied her fundamental protections.
Decades of progress undermined
Phillips notes that over decades, hard-won rights for victims of domestic, sexual and physical violence in UK courts include separate entrances, video evidence, screens, and strict rules on questioning about sexual history and medical records. She states, "We have rules about what you can ask a victim about their previous sexual history, and about what in their medical history can and cannot be requested."
The Sarah Steele case
The Guardian investigation revealed that Capt Jacob Wulfson, a US airman, was charged by a US military court with "aggravated sexual contact" – a crime that does not exist in the UK. He was acquitted of that charge but sentenced to six months for "non-fatal strangulation" by an all-male jury of his peers, subject to automatic appeal. Steele was in the courtroom with her accuser throughout, and all jurors worked on the same military base as the accused.
Comparison to UK standards
Phillips draws a stark comparison: "This is a bit like a jury in a trial against me being heard only by other women from the parliamentary Labour party." She states that the defence lawyer's questioning "would never have been able to get away with saying what he did in a UK court."
Systemic failure and call to action
Phillips emphasises that Steele is a British woman who lives in the UK and was abused in the UK. She criticises Cambridgeshire police for allowing the US military to take the lead, saying, "The moment Cambridgeshire police allowed the US military to take the lead in this case, Sarah Steele stepped out from that crowd of women and stood completely on her own. This should never have been allowed to happen."
Phillips vows to change the system, stating, "No UK victim should be handed over to the US military for a crime committed on UK soil unless that is exactly what they want to happen." She concludes, "Sarah, I’m sorry I couldn’t hear you, I’m sorry they were able to silence you, I can see you now and I promise I will try to change this."
