HELEN MIRREN - MIRREN UNDER FIRE AGAIN FOR RAPE COMMENTS

MIRREN UNDER FIRE AGAIN FOR RAPE COMMENTS

HELEN MIRREN has come under fire again for her views on rape - after suggesting female jurors in a sexual assault case were deliberately selected by barristers because "women go against women".
The Queen star spoke about the difficulties facing female rape victims when they got their case to court in an interview with Britain's Sunday Times magazine - saying she thought women jurors were chosen purposefully by defence lawyers because other women would think the victim "was asking for it".
In the interview, she says, "Whether in a deep-seated animalistic way, going back billions of years, or from a sense of tribal jealousy or just antagonism, I don't know.
"But other women on a rape case would say she was asking for it. The only reason I can think of is that they're sexually jealous."
The comments mirror similar statements Mirren made in September's (08) British GQ magazine, when she came under attack for suggesting women who have been date raped should not take their attackers to court as it would be difficult to press charges against someone they had planned on being sexually active with.
She also admitted in the candid interview that she herself had been the victim of date rapes on several occasions, as well as taking cocaine, in her youth.
Mirren answered the backlash against her first comments on rape by urging people to read the full interview before believing the media's "sensational" take on her views.
But the Oscar-winner has now been slammed by U.K. solicitor general Vera Baird - an advisor to the British monarchy and government on the law - who brands Mirren's comments "ignorant".
Baird tells Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, "This is just such an ignorant thing to say - to suggest that the defence or prosecution have any involvement in the selection of a jury.
"It's just absurd. First of all, it's completely factually incorrect. It shows an absolute lack of knowledge about the way the criminal justice system works. I do not know what she is talking about, women hating women.
"This is a vast generalisation based on nothing, but unfortunately it is likely to have a deterrent effect."