- Caroline Burrell, Centre Director
A Woman's Story: a personal experience of going through the policing and judicial system
Updated: May 27, 2021
Today we are publishing a report of a woman’s personal experience of going through the policing and judicial system after being raped. In this powerful account, a woman tells of her sense of violation by how she was treated within the judicial process, and how devastated she was by the not proven verdict in her case.
Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre has been honoured to work together with a woman who has used our services on A Woman’s Story. The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, has taken the difficult decision to share her personal story with the public in the sincere hope that it can contribute to making a difference to the experiences of other individuals affected by sexual violence.
A Woman’s Story describes the trauma of rape, and her experience of police, health, justice and other services. It focuses on the institutional and individual responses from services and professionals which the woman experienced as supportive and compassionate, and which aided her recovery, and those which she experienced as less supportive and at worst re-traumatising.
Whilst improvements have been made in relation to the investigation and prosecution of sexual crimes, and support and care for victims of these crimes, what A Woman’s Story tells us – clearly and urgently – is that much more needs to be done. It is just not acceptable for women not to be offered female doctors for what can be an intimate and distressing forensic examination in the immediate aftermath of being raped - or for these examinations to be carried out in police stations. Additionally, the not proven verdict is an anomaly, is used disproportionally in rape trials, and in our view should be removed. It is still the case that the by far the highest number of not guilty and not proven verdicts are to be found in cases of rape and attempted rape. However, the biggest issue is how intensely violating the experience of giving evidence in court can be which can end up feeling like being bullied and harassed.
Sandy Brindley, National Coordinator for Rape Crisis Scotland, said:
"Too many women have gone through experiences similar to that of the woman who has bravely written this story; too many women have told us that the experience of giving evidence in court felt at least as violating as the rape itself. This woman’s story is a call for change, and we hope that the new Scottish Parliament is willing to listen, and take action."
A lot of important work has taken place in recent years to improve survivors’ experience of reporting rape, and the resulting justice processes. Indeed, the way the police investigate rape has been transformed, and we hear a lot of positive feedback from survivors about how the police treated them. There has also been a 40% increase in the number of people convicted for rape or attempted rape in Scotland (125 in 2014-15). However, a significant majority of rapes that are reported still do not result in a conviction, or even make it to court. Much still remains to be done in terms of improving the justice response for rape survivors in Scotland.
Scotland's Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said:
"Improvements have been made in recent years, but this account makes it clear there is work to do. "I'm grateful that she has shared her experience. It underlines that the Scottish Government needs to take further action to improve the way victimes of sexual offences are treated by the justice system.
"I would be happy to meet with her to hear what further measures she believes we should take to ensure that other women don't have a similar experience."
Responding to the report, Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham said:
“We are committed to continually improving our response to reports of rape and other sexual offences and to conducting rigorous and robust investigations.
“I have spoken to the author of this report and wish to thank her for sharing her experience. Powerful evidence like this helps to shape and continually improve our service. Her willingness to provide constructive feedback has given all services a positive opportunity to effect change in the future.
"Tackling sexual crime is a priority for Police Scotland, we want to encourage people to come forward. Victims of sexual crime can be confident that we will listen to them and investigate their report thoroughly, no matter how much time has passed.”
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service responded to the report:
"We continually strive to improve and develop our engagement with victims and witnesses to assist and support them through the prosecution process. Victims of these crimes now receive communications tailored to best suit their requirements following the introduction of the Victim strategy in 2014. We welcome the feedback provided and would be happy to meet with the victim in this case to identify any further improvements to our service."
A Woman’s Story is a call for change and it is the woman’s and our sincere hope that the report will be actively utilised by police, health, justice and other services to help inform policy, practice and training in relation to responding to individuals who have been affected by sexual violence.
Read Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s full response to A Woman’s Story here.
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