Sexual violence victims face rape myths and misogyny in cross-examination, report finds

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Sexual violence victims are being re-traumatised by the court process, with three-quarters asked questions founded on rape myths while cross-examined, according to a damning new report.

Research by Victim Support found survivors have experienced suicidal thoughts and tried to take their own lives while going through the court process. Some have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Two victims - whose attackers were found guilty - told of the struggles they faced while going through the criminal justice system.

Researchers looked at the experiences of sexual violence victims in cases which reached court and found that a third of victims faced accusations that seeking justice was a way to take revenge.

A third faced questions about their alcohol or substance usage and 15 per cent were questioned about what they were wearing at the time of the alleged rape.

On top of this, 12 per cent of victims experienced questions and accusations that they had just experienced regretful or bad sex.

Half of the cases researchers looked at involved waits of three years or longer between the first police report and a court date.

Around half the cases were adjourned – some as many as four times, and routinely at the eleventh hour with no clarification as to why this had happened.

The study was based on interviews with victims and sexual violence practitioners who work for Victim Support, as well as analysis of specific cases.

After she was raped in 2018, Ellie* said she grappled with five years of court delays and had to challenge a police decision to close her case.

She said she reported the incident to the police, who arrested the perpetrator before releasing him while they investigated the case.

“He lived very close to me and I constantly thought I was going to run into him and wondered if he was doing what he did to me to someone else,” Ellie said. “That made it very difficult for me to move on.”

The offender was re-arrested for another rape half a year later but the police still did not charge him, with Ellie saying a detective called her to tell her they were closing her case in 2011.

“It was told in a phone call like it was the most casual thing in the world,” she said.

Ellie successfully appealled the decision and the trial was set for 2023.

Discussing her experience of cross-examination, she said: “Taking the stand was the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life. It felt like I was walking to the gallows or like an animal in a corner being attacked.”

Ellie was asked by the defence about CCTV footage of her adjusting her top while standing by the offender.

“I had to justify an action that was normal to me,” she added. “I had to say to a room full of strangers, I have big breasts and I have to adjust them.”

Ellie added: “They tried to make out it was some kind of revenge, that I had this wild night then regretted it.”

The perpetrator went on to be found guilty, in a unanimous decision by the jury, and sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Kate*, a sexual assault victim, was forced to wait three years and endure three adjournments before her case finally reached trial in 2023. 

She was a child when she reported the crime and was offered a number of special measures but was over 18 by the time her court date came, which meant some of the measures were withdrawn.

The defence barrister questioned her about what she was wearing and this “didn’t sit right with me”, Kate said.

Although the defendant was found guilty on all counts, Kate is still waiting for the sentencing after a court date was cancelled.

Katie Kempen, chief executive of Victim Support, said: “The court process is, quite simply, asking too much of victim-survivors. There is a postcode lottery, when it comes to whether they are receiving vital rights – like special measures and information about the progress and outcome of their case.”

She warned the criminal justice system process is “re-traumatising people and profoundly damaging their mental health”, with many regretting they ever came forward to the police.

The organisation urged the government and criminal justice agencies to set concrete promises to tackle the problem of court delays and adjournments.

The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.

*Names changed to protect identities