Rape survivors in Scotland have shared their stories for the first time as the row over juryless trials continues to engulf Scottish politics.
Conviction rates for rape in Scotland stand at just 51% compared to 91% for other offences, leading to calls for reform.
Part of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill put forward by the Scottish Government would include pilots of juryless trials, which would see those accused of sexual violence stand trial before a single judge or sheriff.
First Minister Humza Yousaf pointed to the prevalence of rape myths which can sway jury decisions as he defended the proposals, as well as pointing out that both France and the Netherlands have introduced juryless trials for such offences.
Read More: Rebellion over juryless rape trials grow as more lawyers join boycott
However, the proposals drew a furious backlash from lawyers and opposition politicians, calling it an attack on the fundamental principles of the Scottish justice system.
Now for the first time people who have been through the process as victims of rape have spoken to the Herald to share their experiences.
Hannah said: "No one was looking for the truth of what happened in that room, it was all about manipulating a jury.
"It’s all about telling stories and winding people up. It felt like it was about confusing people, until they aren’t quite sure what the answer was.”
Miss M, who has an anonymity order and cannot be identified, reported being raped while at university. But her experience of the system was so bad that, around 18 months into her case, she tried to pull out entirely.
“I didn’t have any support after the police handed the case over to the Procurator Fiscal, and as time went on it got so bad I couldn’t go to university anymore. I was really struggling. So I wrote to the procurator fiscal and said ‘unfortunately the time has come where I need to think of my own mental health and future, over this case’. They didn’t respond, but within six or seven hours I had two police officers at my door, saying I could have a case against me, if I tried to pull out, because they had laid charges by that stage.”
Read the full article by Liam Kirkaldy here: Brutality and limbo: Inside the plan to change Scottish rape trials
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel