Taking the stand: Emma’s story

Two reports of rape. Two criminal trials. Two not guilty verdicts. Two men, cleared. Two women – torn apart. A Tortoise investigation has heard how two complainants, Grace*, and Emma*, experienced the justice system from the point their alleged rapist was charged to the moment they were told of the jury’s decision. At a time when a vanishingly small number of police-recorded rapes result in a criminal charge, access to the transcripts of these two trials has permitted a step-by-step analysis of how each woman’s case was prosecuted, how they were cross-examined by the defence, why in one case, a woman’s past sexual history was allowed to be put before a jury, and the “bad character” of one alleged rapist was not.

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