:00:04. > :00:08.escaped a violent assault, so, for me, this is personal. In Britain
:00:08. > :00:11.today, a woman is raped every ten minutes. That means there will have
:00:11. > :00:14.been six more by the end of this programme.
:00:14. > :00:19.Yet, our conviction rates for this horrific crime are still low. Why
:00:19. > :00:24.aren't we doing a better job of making sure that perpetrators are
:00:24. > :00:27.punished. How is our system failing victims so badly?
:00:27. > :00:31.I meet with young women to try to understand what it's like to live
:00:31. > :00:37.through. He had a knife to my throat, and he
:00:37. > :00:41.told me if I didn't have sex with him he would rape me.
:00:41. > :00:49.I discover that young people are more vulnerable than ever. And they
:00:49. > :00:53.seriously lack awareness. There are people out there that are
:00:53. > :00:57.doing this, and don't even realise that they are committing a crime.
:00:57. > :01:02.I see that women who have been raped often feel like they are the
:01:02. > :01:07.ones on trial. He accused me of liking rough sex,
:01:07. > :01:10.saying harder, harder, during my rape. I thought I was a victim, but
:01:10. > :01:15.at that point I felt like a criminal.
:01:15. > :01:19.I confront the people in authority who are supposed to be putting
:01:19. > :01:23.rapists behind bars. Very often people think it is because we don't
:01:23. > :01:33.believe them, it is not. ultimately, I confront our own
:01:33. > :01:43.
:01:43. > :01:49.attitudes and prejudices about who When I was a student, I spent six
:01:49. > :01:55.months in Mexico City. I had an incredible time. But I also had one
:01:55. > :02:03.of the worst experiences of my life. When a normal cab journey turned
:02:03. > :02:08.nasty. There were just trees, it was dark,
:02:08. > :02:12.it was 9.30pm, there wasn't many people around. We had gone off the
:02:12. > :02:18.main road. He stopped the car, and said, this is an assault, give me
:02:18. > :02:24.everything you have got, I'm going to fuck you up you little bit. He
:02:24. > :02:29.moved in next to me, touched my legs and grabbing at me.
:02:29. > :02:34.I was like I have to get out of here, I tried the door, luckily it
:02:34. > :02:42.was open. As I opened the door, and it swung
:02:42. > :02:47.open, he launched himself on me. He put his hands around my neck. He
:02:47. > :02:52.started to strangle me. Because I had opened the door I was sort of
:02:52. > :03:00.lying here, and he was, his weight was on the top of my neck.
:03:00. > :03:04.I still, to this day, I have no idea how I managed to kind of free
:03:04. > :03:09.his grip. Something happened and I managed to wriggle from underneath
:03:09. > :03:13.him and pull my legs out and kick back.
:03:13. > :03:20.I just remember running. I didn't look back.
:03:20. > :03:30.It was really dark, and there were just trees everywhere. I managed to
:03:30. > :03:32.
:03:32. > :03:36.get to safety, and a friend picked me up. I didn't really sleep, I was
:03:36. > :03:44.going over and over things in my head. I didn't tell my parents for
:03:44. > :03:53.a while. It took me three days to tell my dad. I didn't want them to
:03:53. > :03:58.worry. That's quite a natural reaction though. It has really
:03:58. > :04:03.affected me, I just have so much admiration and respect for women
:04:03. > :04:12.who have survived and who have fought back through from a violent
:04:12. > :04:20.attack and rapes, because I think, wow. If I found it quite difficult
:04:20. > :04:24.and I didn't get rape, how the hell are they managing.
:04:24. > :04:31.Rape is not easy to talk about, but it is a problem that is getting
:04:31. > :04:36.worse. Especially for young people. A
:04:36. > :04:46.current Government campaign is highlighting the issue. I don't
:04:46. > :04:50.
:04:50. > :04:55.want to. I want to find out what's going on.
:04:55. > :05:05.I'm going to speak to women who are survivors of rape, to try to
:05:05. > :05:07.
:05:07. > :05:12.understand what effect it has on people's lives.
:05:12. > :05:15.I'm starting in Aberdeen. I'm meeting Sarah Scott, a young mum,
:05:15. > :05:21.who has agreed to speak openly to me about her attack, just over a
:05:21. > :05:25.year ago. Sarah? Yeah, hi. She hopes to
:05:25. > :05:31.encourage other women to come forward.
:05:31. > :05:35.It would be nice to let my guard down sometimes. To be able to just
:05:35. > :05:40.relax. I haven't relaxed since the day it happened. I just want to be
:05:40. > :05:50.the old Sarah, you know. Fun, happy, the old Sarah, you know. Fun, happy,
:05:50. > :05:50.
:05:50. > :05:54.young girl. It was Christmas time, and like a lot of young people,
:05:54. > :06:00.Sarah and her sister were looking forward to celebrating with a big
:06:00. > :06:05.night out. But for Sarah, things went terribly wrong.
:06:05. > :06:10.It was just like any other night, I met her at the nightclub, she was
:06:10. > :06:15.already drunk, and one of her friends had a VIP table upstairs.
:06:15. > :06:23.So there were like bottles of Vodka on the tables. So I got drunk, very,
:06:23. > :06:30.very quickly. We all got kind of separated throughout the night, all
:06:30. > :06:34.of my friends, her flatmates, my sister. Looking Herridge sister in
:06:34. > :06:39.the nightclub, is a ra bumped into a guy who was a casual -- Sarah
:06:39. > :06:43.bumped into a guy who was a casual acquaintance, and she asked if he
:06:43. > :06:48.could help her. He was like, it's OK, they are at an afterparty at my
:06:48. > :06:52.house. I had no reason to doubt him. You knew him? I didn't know him
:06:52. > :07:00.well, why would someone lie about that.
:07:00. > :07:04.So we left the nightclub, and went towards his flat. When I got there,
:07:04. > :07:13.you know, he opened the door, and it was dark inside, I was like,
:07:13. > :07:18.this is not an after-party. He grabbed me by the arms and
:07:18. > :07:23.forced me into, what I suppose, was the bedroom. There was a dirty kind
:07:23. > :07:32.of mattress on the floor, and he pushed me on to it. He ripped my
:07:32. > :07:39.clothes off, and then raped me, twice. I tried so hard to get away,
:07:39. > :07:46.I just felt powerless. He held me down, he punched me, he beat me. I
:07:46. > :07:56.just screamed, I kicked him, I wasn't strong enough. He was a lot
:07:56. > :08:04.stronger than I was. He left the room, told me if I leave he will
:08:04. > :08:14.kill me. I had no idea what to do, I was lying in my own blood on a
:08:14. > :08:17.
:08:17. > :08:21.mattress, thinking, what amI going to do.
:08:21. > :08:26.When I couldn't hear anything, I crept through to see where he was,
:08:26. > :08:32.he was sleeping on the couch. That image won't leave my head, I'm not
:08:32. > :08:35.sure why, I just see him sleeping on the couch. Sarah ran out of the
:08:36. > :08:40.flat wearing just a bloody dressing gown, looking for someone to help
:08:40. > :08:45.her. I ran past the bed and breakfast, there were two men
:08:45. > :08:52.standing outside smoking cigarettes, and I walked up to them, hysterical,
:08:52. > :08:57.help me, I have been raped. They just looked at me and in disgust.
:08:57. > :09:03.They didn't help you? No, they went back inside.
:09:03. > :09:12.Alone and exhausted, Sarah collapsed in the street. Two CID
:09:12. > :09:18.officers found her and brought her into a Police Station.
:09:18. > :09:25.All over my body there were bruises from his hands grabbing me. I had
:09:25. > :09:31.these little bruises all over me. I suffer from quite severe vaginal
:09:31. > :09:38.tearing, black eye, scratches, cuts. I just remember sitting in the
:09:39. > :09:42.shower just sitting there crying, watching all this blood drip off me.
:09:42. > :09:49.The dirt, it just sunk in what happened. I just wanted to wash.
:09:50. > :09:59.Then I realised that he was inside of me. Even to this day, I will
:09:59. > :10:05.never be clean of that, never. Sarah's attacker was arrested that
:10:05. > :10:10.day. He denied raping her. I don't know, I just think maybe I can move
:10:10. > :10:16.on with my life more if he could just admit he did this. But he put
:10:16. > :10:26.me through all of that, I can never for give someone who did that. I
:10:26. > :10:31.
:10:31. > :10:35.can never. Sarah's attacker was found guilty of her rape, and
:10:35. > :10:44.sentenced to eight years in prison. The fact that her rapist was tried,
:10:44. > :10:49.and convicted, sadly makes her case unusual.
:10:49. > :10:55.According to the British Crime Survey, over 15,000 people reported
:10:55. > :11:00.being raped last year. But there were just over 1,000 convictions
:11:00. > :11:03.for rape. That's a massive difference. Clearly, something is
:11:04. > :11:13.going wrong, I want to know what it is. I think part of the problem is
:11:14. > :11:18.our attitude to sex. # It must be ass
:11:18. > :11:24.# Because it ain't your face. are bombarded with explicit sexual
:11:24. > :11:29.imagery every day. In ads, magazines, TV, phones, the
:11:29. > :11:34.web, a lot of it portrays women as up for sex, all the time. And men
:11:34. > :11:39.as dominant and in control. Pornography is more accessible to
:11:39. > :11:47.young people than ever before. One in four boys accesses porn at
:11:47. > :11:52.least once a week. Cat, a feminist writer, thinks it
:11:52. > :11:54.is a serious problem. We have boys and girls now that are, for the
:11:54. > :12:01.and girls now that are, for the first time in human history. Are
:12:01. > :12:06.being raised in a pretty much a pornfied culture. If we look at
:12:06. > :12:11.these image, and these films and so forth, we see that sex is portrayed
:12:11. > :12:16.as being about power. It is about a man will take it from a woman, he
:12:16. > :12:19.will do it to her, he will give it to her, it is not about exchange
:12:19. > :12:25.and communication, and mutual and communication, and mutual
:12:25. > :12:28.respect. We still have some pretty old
:12:28. > :12:32.school ideas, that if women behave in a certain way, then they are
:12:32. > :12:40.shruts. If some men get the wrong idea,
:12:40. > :12:45.what do they expect. A major study show we have deep-seated
:12:45. > :12:48.stereotypes about rape in our society. 34% of people thought a
:12:48. > :12:53.woman was fully or partially responsible for rape if she was
:12:53. > :12:57.flirting. 30% thought a woman was responsible if she was drunk. 26%
:12:57. > :13:04.thought a woman was responsible if she was wearing sexy or revealing
:13:04. > :13:09.clothing. It all, basically, adds up to the idea, that if you get
:13:09. > :13:12.raped, it is some how your fault. Do you know what really gets me, is
:13:12. > :13:16.people can still think this way. We all go out with our mates, you get
:13:16. > :13:21.drunk, have a few drinks, you get dolled up. I just don't understand
:13:21. > :13:28.how people can still think you are some how asking for it, as like as
:13:28. > :13:32.though rape is out there waiting for you.
:13:32. > :13:42.One of the biggest stereotypes is that a rapist will be some stranger
:13:42. > :13:43.
:13:43. > :13:46.in a dark alley. But, in fact, most women know their attackers.
:13:46. > :13:54.Things can get even more difficult when an attacker is not just
:13:54. > :14:02.someone you know, but someone you are in a relationship with.
:14:02. > :14:07.OK, I want you to go now. The reality of partner rape is
:14:07. > :14:17.getting more attention these days. In situations like this, it can be
:14:17. > :14:18.
:14:18. > :14:22.even more difficult for a woman to come forward. Today, I'm meeting
:14:22. > :14:25.Laura. Several years ago her then boyfriend agreed to take their
:14:25. > :14:31.relationship slowly, and wait until she was ready for them to sleep
:14:31. > :14:36.together. One particular night he decided he
:14:36. > :14:40.wanted what he wanted, and there was no, I didn't really have a say
:14:40. > :14:43.in it. Laura is not her real name. She's asked us to protect her
:14:43. > :14:51.identity, because she's never talked publicly about what happened
:14:51. > :14:59.to her. I was watching a film or something,
:14:59. > :15:04.I was at his place. I had fallen asleep, I remember waking up with
:15:04. > :15:10.sim on top of me. -- with him on top of me. And he raped me. I
:15:10. > :15:20.couldn't believe he had done that. I can't believe that it was someone
:15:20. > :15:20.
:15:20. > :15:24.that you knew, it was your partner. It is absolutely shocking.
:15:24. > :15:30.You can't believe it is happening, it feels like it is happening to
:15:30. > :15:35.someone else. I remember after it happened I left, I went home, I'm
:15:35. > :15:45.thinking that didn't happen. That didn't happen. In the morning he
:15:45. > :15:47.
:15:47. > :15:53.called me. He called you? He called me. He said, are you OK? I said, no
:15:53. > :16:02.I'm not, don't call me. He was like I'm so sorry, I was like just leave
:16:02. > :16:07.me alone. I kind of put it away. I put it in a box. But it's not
:16:07. > :16:13.something you can bury, because it changes who you are. It changes you
:16:13. > :16:23.as a person. Laura chose not to report the rape. And tried to cope
:16:23. > :16:25.
:16:25. > :16:29.with the trauma alone. Did you tell any family members? No. This is one
:16:29. > :16:34.of the reasons why I wanted to do this today. People's views on
:16:34. > :16:38.things, that's what stopped me from telling my family, and going to the
:16:38. > :16:44.police. People have such defined views on what happens to someone
:16:44. > :16:47.who is sexually assaulted. I was staying at his house, and people
:16:48. > :16:52.will have views, if you were there, what did you expect. If it is a
:16:52. > :16:59.stranger, then it is more acceptable, and just having that,
:16:59. > :17:03.there is no way I could go. No way. Cases like Laura's are not rare.
:17:03. > :17:07.According to the Rape Crisis organisation, more than one in five
:17:07. > :17:13.rapes are perpetrated by a victim's boyfriend or husband.
:17:13. > :17:16.A year after her attack, Laura finally got counselling. It is not
:17:16. > :17:25.an instant thing, it is not something that happens overnight,
:17:25. > :17:29.there is no magic wand. But it is a lifesaver.
:17:29. > :17:32.I feel really sad for her to have nowhere to go because she didn't
:17:32. > :17:36.think people would believe her, I can't imagine what that must have
:17:36. > :17:41.been like for her. Laura's choice to not report crime
:17:41. > :17:46.is common. In fact, it is estimated that up to 95% of rapes in the UK
:17:46. > :17:50.are unreported. That could be hundreds of thousands
:17:50. > :17:57.of victims who are too ashamed or afraid to even talk about it. Let
:17:57. > :18:05.alone report it to the police. So why are so many victims worried
:18:05. > :18:08.about the police? It seems like there has been far too many high-
:18:08. > :18:12.profile report that have criticised police behaviour, and I'm reading
:18:12. > :18:15.here that the police haven't been taking victims seriously, that rape
:18:15. > :18:19.hasn't been high enough as a priority, rape hasn't even been a
:18:19. > :18:22.priority for the police force, and that there is even a culture of
:18:22. > :18:26.blaming the victim within the police force, which is totally
:18:26. > :18:31.unacceptable. Today, around half of the incidents
:18:31. > :18:35.of rape that are reported to the police, don't progress any further.
:18:35. > :18:39.There have been big efforts to improve services in the last ten
:18:39. > :18:47.years, including specially-trained officers on every force, and sexual
:18:47. > :18:51.assault referral centres across England and Wales.
:18:51. > :19:01.One police force in England that has changed how it investigates
:19:01. > :19:12.
:19:12. > :19:17.Good afternoon. Lovely to meet you. Thank you for having us.
:19:17. > :19:20.Operation Blue Stone is a dedicated unit set up in 2009, it has
:19:20. > :19:28.improved the conviction rates here, and also the numbers of victims
:19:28. > :19:38.seeing cases through to court. This is the Blue Stone wall of
:19:38. > :19:39.
:19:39. > :19:42.shame. All of these men were caught by the team. Everyone is completely
:19:42. > :19:47.different, there is a whole range of people, just you can never tell
:19:47. > :19:51.by locking at someone. Obviously there is the perception that your
:19:51. > :19:54.sexual offender will be someone wearing a long raincoat. It
:19:54. > :19:59.couldn't be further from the truth. Do you have any idea why they might
:19:59. > :20:04.commit the crimes they do, why they might rape someone? By and large a
:20:04. > :20:14.lot of it isn't sexual motives, it is control or power. They are
:20:14. > :20:16.
:20:16. > :20:19.acting out that control. All the officers volunteered for the unit.
:20:19. > :20:22.They deal with a rape case from reporting to trial. Which means the
:20:22. > :20:25.victim gets to deal with the same people all the way through the
:20:25. > :20:28.process. Victims often fear that people
:20:28. > :20:31.won't believe them, what would you say to someone who would like to
:20:31. > :20:34.come forward? We have to investigate all lines of inquiry.
:20:34. > :20:38.What I would always say is anyone coming in and walking through the
:20:38. > :20:43.door and speaking to one of my officers will be believed. That is
:20:43. > :20:47.just a given. Many people have a perception that there are flaws in
:20:47. > :20:54.the system when it is concerned with rape cases. Do you feel that
:20:54. > :20:57.in any way? I have a very personal view that sometimes the system
:20:57. > :21:04.feels more biased towards the perpetrators, the pressure often
:21:05. > :21:08.seems all on the victim. Reporting a rape will usually
:21:08. > :21:12.involve giving detailed statements about the attack. Answering
:21:12. > :21:17.questions, and going through a forensic medical examination, to
:21:17. > :21:23.build up evidence. It is not an easy process for any
:21:23. > :21:29.victim of a traumatic event. And, unfortunately, going through this
:21:29. > :21:33.process, is no guarantee that your case will actually get to court.
:21:33. > :21:39.Today I'm meeting a young girl I'm going to call Natalie. We have to
:21:39. > :21:43.protect her identity for legal reasons. Natalie was subjected to
:21:43. > :21:48.an attack that is becoming more common. A gang rape.
:21:48. > :21:52.Police say sex attacks involving multiple perpetrators have
:21:52. > :21:56.increased by around 20% in recent years in London alone.
:21:56. > :21:59.In many cases, victims are targeted by guys they know and think are
:21:59. > :22:04.their friends. These crimes are difficult to investigate, because
:22:04. > :22:10.nobody wants to turn in their own crew.
:22:10. > :22:14.Four years ago, when Natalie was just 16, some guys from her area
:22:14. > :22:18.started hanging around with her. At first they treated her really well.
:22:18. > :22:23.I felt very safe around them. They would always be there to protect me
:22:23. > :22:27.when I was there at parties. They would look after me, to me it felt
:22:27. > :22:34.like a good bunch of friends. Natalie started dating one of them,
:22:34. > :22:40.and thought it was a group she could trust. All except for one,
:22:40. > :22:44.the leader of the group. Whatever he said would go, in their eyes,
:22:44. > :22:49.whatever he said to do, they would do it. The first time I met him I
:22:49. > :22:54.didn't like him, I didn't want to be around him. One night, Natalie
:22:54. > :23:02.was invited over to her boyfriend's house to listen to music. And found
:23:03. > :23:05.the whole group there. Including the guy she was scared of. Even
:23:05. > :23:09.though I was the only girl, and there was five guys there, I
:23:09. > :23:14.thought, these are my friends. I didn't think anything was going to
:23:14. > :23:20.happen at all. But soon, the lead guy started talking about being
:23:20. > :23:26.horny, and making sexual comments towards her. I thought, OK, I feel
:23:26. > :23:32.a bit uncomfortable now, I'm the only female in the room. Then he
:23:32. > :23:38.got out a box of condom, he started throwing them at me.
:23:38. > :23:45.The next minute he started lighting matches and then throwing them at
:23:45. > :23:48.me. Lit matches. Yeah, lit matches. No-one was sticking up for me, I
:23:48. > :23:52.said what are you doing, everyone was sitting there laughing.
:23:52. > :24:02.lead guy pulled a couple of the others boys out of the living room.
:24:02. > :24:07.Then Natalie was called into a bedroom. The guy I thought was
:24:07. > :24:10.scary was telling me I was supposed to give the other guy oral sex, I
:24:10. > :24:14.was like what are you talking about, I don't want to do that. He said if
:24:14. > :24:18.I don't do it he was going to stab me. So this is when I was thinking,
:24:18. > :24:23.oh my God, what do I do. My friend that I was speaking to, he was like
:24:23. > :24:28.I kpblt help you, do what he says, other -- can't help you, do what he
:24:28. > :24:32.says, he will stab you. Natalie's friend agreed to lie and tell the
:24:32. > :24:37.others she had given him oral sex. Then the lead guy came back into
:24:37. > :24:44.the bedroom. He came and sat next to me on the
:24:44. > :24:51.bed, I was sitting in the dark on the bed. He had a knife to my
:24:51. > :24:56.throat, he told me if I didn't have sex with him he would rape me. I
:24:56. > :24:59.kind of thought, what should I do, I don't want to say yes, and end up
:24:59. > :25:05.having sex with a stranger I don't even like. I didn't want to say no,
:25:05. > :25:09.and then get attacked. But then I had no choice, I had a knife to my
:25:09. > :25:14.throat, I had sex or I was raped by him. After he had raped me, he told
:25:14. > :25:19.the guy that I was dating to come in and rape me as well. So then he
:25:19. > :25:22.raped me. And then after that his little brother came in, it was like
:25:22. > :25:27.they were taking turns with me, basically, one after another. I was
:25:27. > :25:31.sore, I just wanted to leave. Even after I got raped by his little
:25:31. > :25:38.brother, the main perpetrator came in again, and he had round two of
:25:38. > :25:41.The boys took turns raping Natalie for hours.
:25:41. > :25:47.She was only able to get away the next morning when her boyfriend's
:25:47. > :25:52.parents came in. Later that day, Natalie broke down
:25:53. > :25:57.and told her mum what had happened. They went to the police to report
:25:57. > :26:01.the rapes. Natalie then endured months of anxious waiting to face
:26:01. > :26:04.her attackers in court. I went to the court, they told me where I was
:26:04. > :26:09.going to sit, where the perpetrator was going to sit and what would go
:26:09. > :26:12.on that day. But she never got the chance. I think it was the next day,
:26:12. > :26:19.I got a phone call saying that I'm not needed in court any more. And
:26:19. > :26:22.that the case had been dropped. did it get dropped? Because they
:26:22. > :26:26.said there was a lack of evidence, and there wasn't a high enough
:26:26. > :26:30.percentage of chance that I was going to win the case.
:26:30. > :26:34.Natalie had to get in touch with the Crown Prosecution Service to
:26:34. > :26:39.arrange a meeting to discuss the case.
:26:39. > :26:43.It was horrible, they were so cold about it. I was angry at this point,
:26:43. > :26:46.because I was trying to tell them how I felt. Even if I didn't win
:26:46. > :26:50.the case, at least I would have had a step to talk out about what
:26:50. > :26:53.happened, so I could put my point across. They were saying they can't
:26:54. > :26:58.see any point in me going and putting me through the trauma, to
:26:58. > :27:02.then be let down and know I'm going to lose the case any way. To me I
:27:02. > :27:05.have had no closure or justice on the case. So it felt like I had
:27:05. > :27:10.been through all that trauma, and all those statements, all the
:27:10. > :27:13.filming, the forensics, I went through all of that for no reason.
:27:13. > :27:18.Natalie is moving forward with her life. But can't escape reminders
:27:18. > :27:22.that her attackers got away with what they did. I have seen them
:27:22. > :27:26.quite a few times, he's living life. I don't even know if he remembers
:27:26. > :27:32.me, to tell you the truth. That is what hurts the most. Because I will
:27:32. > :27:38.always remember him, I don't know if he would even remember me.
:27:38. > :27:43.I would like to find out about what really goes on in the CPS, because
:27:43. > :27:48.it sounds like they are not really doing their job. Or you know,
:27:48. > :27:53.especially in Natalie's case, that they have done their job badly.
:27:53. > :27:56.I want some answers about what's going wrong.
:27:56. > :28:01.A senior prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service has agreed to
:28:01. > :28:05.meet me. Alison, why is it that more cases don't get to court?
:28:05. > :28:09.There are a number of reasons. We look at you will the evidence and
:28:09. > :28:12.decide is a conviction -- and all the evidence and decide is a
:28:12. > :28:15.conviction likely or not. Very often people think it is because we
:28:15. > :28:19.don't believe them, but it is not, it is because we can't demonstrate
:28:19. > :28:22.to the court and to a jury that there is sufficient evidence there.
:28:22. > :28:27.Quite often we find that victims decide they don't want to go
:28:27. > :28:32.through the process themselves. I met a girl who suffered a
:28:33. > :28:36.horrendous ordeal, multiperpetrator attack, she reported it to the
:28:36. > :28:39.police, went through months of preparation for the trial, and the
:28:39. > :28:43.day before she was meant to go into court her case was dropped by the
:28:43. > :28:46.CPS due to lack of evidence. Why would something like this happen?
:28:46. > :28:51.obviously can't comment on that particular case, as I don't know
:28:51. > :28:54.that particular case, but certainly in any case where we are not going
:28:54. > :29:00.ahead, we ought to be explaining the victim why we are not going
:29:00. > :29:05.ahead, so she understands. The CPS dropped more than half the
:29:05. > :29:10.rape cases brought to them by the police. Ultimately, just one in
:29:10. > :29:13.four reported rapes actually ends up in court. So, if you have been
:29:13. > :29:16.raped and your case does go to trial, you are one of the very few
:29:17. > :29:24.lucky ones. Although, it probably won't feel
:29:24. > :29:28.like it. Where would a victim stand?
:29:28. > :29:34.victim would have to come all the way...Hannah Is a legal expert for
:29:34. > :29:40.the rights of women, they support victims going through the trial. So
:29:40. > :29:44.the victim is actually a witness? Yes, the victim is the prime
:29:44. > :29:51.witness for the prosecution case. So the first witness that they
:29:51. > :29:56.would call. They don't get a lawyer? No, the victim has the
:29:56. > :30:02.Crown Prosecution Service lawyer. They don't have a lawyer of their
:30:02. > :30:08.own. I cannot imagine, you are standing here, and you just know
:30:08. > :30:11.that someone who attacked you is standing there. That must feel
:30:11. > :30:17.horrible. Do people find it really tough? I think everyone who has
:30:17. > :30:22.given evidence would say that they find it, it's not a pleasant
:30:22. > :30:26.experience at all. I think that some people would experience an
:30:26. > :30:29.element of satisfaction in actually telling people what happened. But I
:30:29. > :30:35.think it is really, really important to appreciate that this
:30:36. > :30:40.can be a difficult process, and the best thing to do is to get as much
:30:40. > :30:50.support and advice as you can do before you actually deciding to
:30:50. > :30:50.
:30:50. > :30:55.through this process. A victim would be in here, reliving
:30:55. > :31:03.through everything again, and people firing questions at you, and
:31:03. > :31:08.questioning what happened, and they are doubting what you are saying.
:31:08. > :31:15.It must be really difficult. Victims now have the option to
:31:15. > :31:20.testify behind a screen, or via videolink. Some women choose to
:31:20. > :31:28.face their attacker in court, like Sarah, the young woman I met in
:31:28. > :31:32.Aberdeen. She was. Prepared for the ordeal she then experienced. I was
:31:32. > :31:38.terrified of him, he was a monster in my mind. I needed to face that
:31:38. > :31:45.fear. I really needed to see him, and realise that he wasn't this
:31:45. > :31:52.terrifying person, he was pathetic. At the end of that I felt good. I
:31:52. > :31:56.felt good. I felt like I had accomplished something. But things
:31:56. > :31:59.changed, as soon as the defence stood up. You can't prepare
:31:59. > :32:04.yourself for someone accusing you of things that you haven't done,
:32:04. > :32:10.when you are not even on trial, and no-one stops them. No-one objected,
:32:10. > :32:17.no-one said this is wrong. He accused me of liking rough sex, he
:32:17. > :32:23.accused me of saying "harder, harder" during my rape. He accused
:32:23. > :32:26.me of liking it. Generally things like that. It was horrific. It was
:32:26. > :32:36.horrific. I thought I was the victim, but at that point I felt
:32:36. > :32:36.
:32:36. > :32:42.like a criminal. For some victims, like Sarah, the
:32:42. > :32:49.experience of court feels almost like being attacked all over again.
:32:49. > :32:54.I want to understand why rape trials can be like this. I'm going
:32:54. > :32:58.to meet Tim, a defence solicitor, whose job it is to help defend
:32:58. > :33:01.suspected rapists in court. I found with some of the victims that we
:33:01. > :33:06.have spoken to, that they have had a really hard time with the defence
:33:06. > :33:11.barristers, to the extent it has just been almost like a secondary
:33:11. > :33:14.victimisation, is what they have called it. What is it that you ask
:33:14. > :33:17.them? As an adversarial system, it means it is one side against the
:33:17. > :33:22.other, the prosecution bring the case, the defence have to contest
:33:22. > :33:26.it. If you have a client who is guilty, how do you defend that in
:33:26. > :33:29.court? If somebody has pleaded guilty, in that scenario we would
:33:30. > :33:33.then try to mitigate or explain the offence. It could be somebody who
:33:33. > :33:36.otherwise has an impecable background, never committed an
:33:36. > :33:40.offence before, family person, perhaps working, but in one
:33:40. > :33:45.situation has stepped over the line, and made a mistake. There could
:33:45. > :33:52.have been two people out having drinks, going out together, and so
:33:52. > :33:55.on, but then somebody take it is too far, or misreads the other
:33:55. > :33:58.person's intentions. Surely no means no? Surely no means no, that
:33:58. > :34:02.goes without saying. I find it tough on one level to understand
:34:02. > :34:06.how you can remain professional and not let something that is so severe
:34:06. > :34:12.and horrendous that is happening to a victim, for example, not affect
:34:12. > :34:16.you? The problem is, it is a flawed system, of course, you can't
:34:16. > :34:19.guarantee you will get to the truth. But you allow the evidence to be
:34:19. > :34:25.tested. As long as there is equality of arms between the
:34:25. > :34:30.prosecution and defence, that is invariably what happens.
:34:30. > :34:34.Essentially what Tim was saying, is they may have a good character
:34:34. > :34:38."except for the rape", surely if someone has raped someone, it tells
:34:38. > :34:42.a lot more about their good character than they have before.
:34:42. > :34:45.I would find it difficult to remain objective in Tim's position, but in
:34:45. > :34:51.the end defence lawyers are just doing their jobs within the current
:34:51. > :34:55.legal system. Ultimately, the decision in a rape
:34:55. > :35:05.trial comes down to the ordinary people on a jury.
:35:05. > :35:07.
:35:07. > :35:11.Directly reflecting how our society thinks about rape. Today I'm
:35:11. > :35:16.meeting Jane, a young woman raped by a man she thought she knew well.
:35:16. > :35:25.She was staying over at a friend's. In the middle of the night she woke
:35:25. > :35:34.up to find her friend's boyfriend in bed with her.
:35:34. > :35:39.I had fallen asleep and woke up, he was behind me. Raping me.
:35:39. > :35:44.I realised it had to be him, he was the only male in the house. I
:35:44. > :35:53.didn't fight, I didn't retaliate in any way. Because I was so shocked,
:35:53. > :35:59.I had known this man for several years, I trusted him. I just, I
:35:59. > :36:05.froze. When he realised Jane was awake, he
:36:05. > :36:12.left the room. Jane left and reported the attack to the police
:36:13. > :36:17.almost immediately. But she then had to wait 16 months for the trial.
:36:17. > :36:22.It was the worst time of my life. I would have always said that I was
:36:22. > :36:26.quite a strong person, I was very outgoing and sociable, a happy
:36:26. > :36:32.person. I lost that. I lost all of that. I just was somebody that I
:36:32. > :36:38.didn't even recognise any more. The prosecution team didn't meet
:36:38. > :36:42.with Jane until just a week or so before the trial. It was all very
:36:42. > :36:47.rushed. They always stressed to expect disappointment, because they
:36:47. > :36:52.very often see it in rape cases, where violence was not part of the
:36:52. > :37:00.act. But they also, on the other hand, were telling me, this is the
:37:00. > :37:07.strongest case. Your evidence points towards winning it.
:37:07. > :37:11.Jane's attacker denied raping her. It wasn't until he was actually on
:37:12. > :37:16.the stand that we found out what his defence was. That was basically
:37:16. > :37:19.that he couldn't remember, he had no recollection. He was saying he
:37:19. > :37:23.couldn't remember? Yeah. So myself and my family were sitting in court
:37:23. > :37:28.looking at each other going, it doesn't add up. You know people
:37:28. > :37:35.have to see through this. How can a jury sit and listen to, I don't
:37:35. > :37:40.remember. So what if you don't remember, it was never consensual,
:37:40. > :37:44.there was never consent there. accused was then asked if he could
:37:44. > :37:48.explain the forensic evidence taken from Jane? He said he accepted
:37:48. > :37:54.something must have happened, but he has no recollection of what. And
:37:54. > :37:58.that he can assume that it was consensual sex.
:37:58. > :38:02.Jane was surprised to see how some members of the jury acted. To be
:38:02. > :38:08.honest, a lot of them looked like they didn't want to be there, and
:38:08. > :38:11.they were bothered, when the jury were sent out to -- bored, when the
:38:11. > :38:14.jury were sent out and discuss the verdict and come back with the
:38:14. > :38:20.result, a lot of the lawyers expected them to come back quite
:38:20. > :38:25.quickly. His own defence barrister approached my prosecution barrister
:38:25. > :38:29.and his words were "do these people not know how to spell guilty",
:38:29. > :38:33.because he believed that he was not walking free.
:38:33. > :38:39.On the second day, without a unanimous verdict, the judge asked
:38:39. > :38:46.the jury to reach a majority decision instead. What was the
:38:46. > :38:51.majority decision? Not guilty. can't believe it. Ten people on
:38:51. > :38:55.that jury said he was not guilty. Numb doesn't even describe it, I
:38:55. > :39:01.can't describe how I felt when they read that verdict out. There was
:39:01. > :39:06.one particular girl in the jury who instantly burst into tears, and
:39:06. > :39:13.turned to me and my family and mouthed the word "sorry". Do you
:39:13. > :39:17.have any inclination as to why the jury said no guilty? The judge
:39:17. > :39:22.tells them they have to be 100% certain of the verdict, in my eyes
:39:22. > :39:27.it is bizarre, it is not right. It is human nature to have doubt and
:39:27. > :39:30.to have your own opinions. Despite the verdict, Jane is still glad she
:39:30. > :39:34.reported the attack. I felt I had done the right thing. I didn't let
:39:34. > :39:41.him away with it. I could have just went home that night and said
:39:41. > :39:50.nothing. I didn't let him ruin me. I don't know how, but I'm here, I
:39:50. > :39:56.survived it. The senior CPS prosecutor I met, is
:39:56. > :40:01.concerned about the decisions some juries are reaching in rape trials.
:40:01. > :40:05.What we are finding is that the largest single reason for cases not
:40:05. > :40:10.succeeding is jury acquittals. We know that the majority of cases we
:40:10. > :40:13.are prosecuting now, it is young girls, there are drink or drugs
:40:13. > :40:17.involved. They know the offender, they have either been in a
:40:17. > :40:22.relationship with him or they know him. So it makes you wonder if that
:40:22. > :40:26.sort of case has an impact on the jury, and the jury perhaps have
:40:26. > :40:31.misconceptions around some of the stereotypes, that they don't
:40:31. > :40:35.realise they are bringing into the jury room.
:40:35. > :40:40.So even if a victim of rape gets past all the hurdles in our justice
:40:40. > :40:45.system, to have their day in court, they still come up against the
:40:45. > :40:50.prejudices we hold about rape in society.
:40:50. > :40:58.We seem to focus more on how the victim might have been responsible
:40:58. > :41:04.instead of blaming rapists. Why is it that so many people are
:41:04. > :41:08.raped, but so many perpetrators are not brought to justice? Because, on
:41:08. > :41:14.the whole, we don't believe women, we don't believe that this is
:41:14. > :41:18.happening, but the reality is, women are being raped on a
:41:18. > :41:22.staggering scale. But our heads are stuck in the sand, and the criminal
:41:22. > :41:26.justice system has got its fingers in its ears, it is not listening to
:41:26. > :41:29.women, it is not dealing with the reality. It is seen as this natural
:41:29. > :41:32.hazard that women have to be careful of, for example when they
:41:32. > :41:36.are coming home late at night, when they have been to the pub, they
:41:36. > :41:40.just need to take the necessary precautions, and if they are
:41:40. > :41:46.responsible, then it will all be OK. As if it is like the weather. But
:41:46. > :41:54.we're talking about violent acts, done for a purpose. People decide
:41:54. > :41:57.to rape, they make a choice, and they have an intent.
:41:57. > :42:00.Rape is not an inevitable force of nature, we can improve our systems
:42:00. > :42:06.for dealing with it. But we should be trying to stop it happening in
:42:06. > :42:11.the first place. Most rapes are perpetrated by a
:42:11. > :42:15.small minority of men. Yet, I almost never hear anyone asking men
:42:15. > :42:19.what they think about rape. So I'm meeting up with a group of young
:42:19. > :42:22.men from a community project in London, who are willing to talk to
:42:22. > :42:26.me about it. I want to know what they think of
:42:26. > :42:30.the idea that women could bring rape upon themselves.
:42:30. > :42:36.I don't think anyone could ask for that. But they could put themselves
:42:36. > :42:41.in a situation where it's likely to happen. Say a girl is dressed in a
:42:41. > :42:44.certain way, you are in a club, a girl is coming towards you, and you
:42:44. > :42:51.know, you are acting friendly and you are buying drinks and
:42:51. > :42:57.everything seems OK, and then it gets to a point where a guy could
:42:57. > :43:01.be taking that a certain way, and thinking all systems go. So she's
:43:01. > :43:05.leading someone on? Yes. But do you think it could end in rape?
:43:05. > :43:08.could, but whether it warrants, I don't think it should. But then
:43:08. > :43:12.again some girls do seem they like they want to have sex because of
:43:12. > :43:17.the way they dress and act around boys, they are dressed like that
:43:17. > :43:21.going out nightclubing. Just because someone is wearing a short
:43:21. > :43:25.skirt doesn't mean they want action? It is the whole thing about
:43:25. > :43:28.how you perceive that person, sometimes a woman want to look good.
:43:28. > :43:35.Some men don't have an understanding of that situation.
:43:35. > :43:42.Because women will never tell you, I like you. Let's go upstairs! It
:43:42. > :43:46.don't work like that. We're not lucky like that, you know what I'm
:43:46. > :43:52.saying, where J-Lo will come on to us, we have to work, we have to
:43:52. > :43:56.read the signs, we have to work it out. Obviously sometimes guys, I
:43:56. > :43:59.think they jump the gun at sometimes. The thing is, it is that
:44:00. > :44:05.kind of attitude and mentality which leads to things happening,
:44:05. > :44:08.girls put in a situation, which has led to rape. What can we do about
:44:08. > :44:12.those attitudes, how can we stop that happening? You can educate
:44:12. > :44:18.people into making the right decisions, which is all about
:44:18. > :44:22.teaching young girls and guys about the signs that girls may give off,
:44:22. > :44:25.that may not necessarily mean I want this. As people we need to
:44:25. > :44:29.understand the damage of the things we cause, by this action you are
:44:30. > :44:34.damaging a life, maybe we need to learn that as the people to
:44:34. > :44:38.understand we can't do this to people, it is more than just one
:44:38. > :44:48.night, it is for the rest of their lives. The guys think there are
:44:48. > :44:52.grey areas around boundaries and signals that need to be worked out.
:44:52. > :44:57.Does that mean there is general confusion among young people about
:44:57. > :45:05.what is and what isn't OK. I'm meeting Mercy, a young person's
:45:05. > :45:09.adviser at the Haven Sexual Assault Referral Centre in ease Len done,
:45:09. > :45:12.she helps hundreds of -- East London, she helps hundreds of
:45:12. > :45:17.people who have been raped and sexually assaulted each year.
:45:17. > :45:21.of people don't think oral sex is sex. A lot of girls look at me as
:45:21. > :45:26.if to say, wow, I didn't know that was an offence. I didn't even know
:45:26. > :45:31.oral sex was sex. When you say rape, everyone automatically thinks of a
:45:32. > :45:40.vagina. They don't think about the Anne news or the mouth. So -- anus,
:45:40. > :45:46.or the mouth. Also digital assault, fingering, a lot of people don't
:45:46. > :45:49.think that is a sexual assault. There are people out there doing
:45:50. > :45:53.this and don't realise they are committing a crime. There are
:45:53. > :45:57.victims out there that don't even know they are a victim. When
:45:58. > :46:01.discussing consent, who is responsible, the boy or the girl?
:46:01. > :46:05.think the boy needs to be asking the girl, do you want to have sex.
:46:05. > :46:08.But again if she's under the influence of alcohol or drugs, her
:46:08. > :46:13.yes could mean no, and her no could mean yes, you are not in a position
:46:13. > :46:18.to make that choice for her and go ahead and have full sex with her,
:46:18. > :46:21.you are not in that position, just don't have sex with somebody who is
:46:21. > :46:25.intoxicated with alcohol or under the influence of drugs, because
:46:25. > :46:29.that is automatically rape. haven has carried out research
:46:29. > :46:33.about young people and attitudes towards consent called Where Is
:46:33. > :46:36.Your Line, and made a film to go with their findings, their results
:46:37. > :46:43.were worrying. One in ten young men would expect someone to have sex
:46:43. > :46:49.with them after kissing. Almost one in ten young women have
:46:49. > :46:53.said no to sex but been ignored. More than half of the young adults
:46:53. > :47:01.surveyed say they would not be put off sex if their partner was crying.
:47:01. > :47:06.It is unbelievable. The survey results make me feel
:47:06. > :47:13.like we have a serious problem, and the fact that young people think it
:47:13. > :47:17.is normal to possibly have sex with someone when they are asleep, that
:47:17. > :47:20.they think it is normal for a girl to cry when they are having sex,
:47:20. > :47:24.they are really shocking statistics, they are really shocking attitudes.
:47:24. > :47:31.I think that we need to do everything that we possibly can in
:47:31. > :47:34.order to fight those attitudes. One thing the guys were absolutely
:47:34. > :47:37.right about, being raped changes a life forever.
:47:37. > :47:47.But the survivors I have met prove that it doesn't have to mean your
:47:47. > :47:48.
:47:49. > :47:55.life is ruined. You can move on, and even become stronger.
:47:55. > :48:02.Back in Scotland, I'm visiting a charity of young survivors of
:48:02. > :48:08.sexual assault. Nicole Campbell set up SAVI with
:48:08. > :48:11.her mum, two years ago. I decided to launch the programme
:48:11. > :48:16.because when I was 14 I was actually raped by my friend's dad,
:48:16. > :48:19.we found no help at all, through the court process, especially that
:48:19. > :48:24.was where I was most vulnerable, and I needed support. There was
:48:24. > :48:30.nothing there for me or my family. Nicole was raped when she was
:48:30. > :48:36.staying over at her friend's house. His dad gave her alcohol and
:48:36. > :48:43.insisted that she stay the night. Basically just went to sleep, and
:48:43. > :48:48.the next thing I know I was like, it was like some pressure on me, I
:48:48. > :48:54.felt a bit sore and uncomfortable, I opened my eyes and his dad was
:48:54. > :49:00.there. He was raping me while I was sleeping. I was still a virgin at
:49:00. > :49:04.the time, that is pretty much how I lost that. Nicole was afraid that
:49:04. > :49:08.no-one would believe her, but her friends convinced her to tell her
:49:08. > :49:13.parents. With their support she reported the rape to the police.
:49:13. > :49:15.But the attack had a terrible effect on her. I was using negative
:49:15. > :49:20.coping strategies to deal with things, because I didn't know the
:49:20. > :49:29.proper way to deal with things. I started getting bullied in school
:49:29. > :49:34.because were saying I was lying and that I wanted to sleep with him. I
:49:34. > :49:40.started cutting myself, actually carving into the top of my leg,
:49:40. > :49:48.that is how I felt. Nicole testified against her attacker in
:49:48. > :49:54.court. He was convicted for her rape. I wanted to make sure he
:49:54. > :49:58.couldn't do it to anyone else, that is why I wanted him put behind bars.
:49:58. > :50:02.Really the worst trauma starts after. You just have no way of
:50:02. > :50:07.dealing with things. The only thing I could turn to block out my
:50:07. > :50:10.feelings was alcohol, and stuff like that, just anything that was
:50:10. > :50:13.going to take me away from feeling the way I did at that time. I
:50:13. > :50:17.really hated myself, I really didn't care about myself at all. It
:50:17. > :50:23.wouldn't have made a difference to me if I was alive or not at that
:50:24. > :50:28.time. What was the turning point for you? Basically, I woke up and I
:50:28. > :50:31.realised I was letting him win, and I wasn't prepared to do that. I
:50:31. > :50:39.didn't go through everything I went through to make sure that he got
:50:39. > :50:43.put behind bars, I did not go through all of that for nothing.
:50:43. > :50:49.Nicole sought help to get her own head straight, and then trained as
:50:49. > :50:54.a counsellor. The feeling that I got after I
:50:54. > :50:58.helped one client, I was buzzing. I was so hyperafter I saw them going
:50:58. > :51:02.away -- hyper after I saw them going away happy. Even that
:51:02. > :51:07.continued to help me, and continued to make me stronger, and understand
:51:07. > :51:13.people a lot better. Do you have any thoughts on why you think
:51:13. > :51:16.perpetrators may do what they do? think it is control, to then play
:51:16. > :51:19.out their sick fantasies, whatever they have in their mind, their sick
:51:19. > :51:23.thoughts, it is control. It makes them feel powerful being able to
:51:23. > :51:27.take what they take from this person. I have kept my power, I
:51:27. > :51:31.have taken it back. I just want every other victim out there to
:51:31. > :51:35.know they can do exactly the same. No-one has the right to take that
:51:35. > :51:38.away from you, that is your's, that is your power, that is your pride,
:51:38. > :51:43.that is everything you work on, your confidence, don't let anyone
:51:43. > :51:50.take that away from you, no matter what happens. Don't ever for one
:51:50. > :51:54.second think that they have won, because they have not.
:51:54. > :51:58.Meeting Nicole really affected me. I think taking one of the worst
:51:58. > :52:03.things that could ever happen to you, and finding a way to make it
:52:03. > :52:07.into something so positive takes real courage.
:52:07. > :52:13.I just found it so inspiring, it made me think, what are you doing
:52:13. > :52:19.with your life. It was like, this is so incredible, and I was just a
:52:19. > :52:28.bit embarrassed, you are like, it made me really think what am I
:52:28. > :52:36.doing to help people. I was just like what an incredible bird.
:52:36. > :52:44.Talking to Nicole gave me a real sense of hope. Maybe she could do
:52:44. > :52:48.the same for one of the other survivors that I have met.
:52:48. > :52:53.I just pray one day I have one day where I don't think about what
:52:53. > :53:01.happened, I don't think about him, I don't think about his name, the
:53:02. > :53:09.feeling of him grab my arms. I know that day will come, eventually. It
:53:09. > :53:16.wasn't that long ago, I guess. These things take time.
:53:16. > :53:24.I want Nicole and Sarah to meet. They have a lot in common. Like
:53:24. > :53:29.Nicole, Sarah's rapist was convicted. Hiya.
:53:30. > :53:34.This is Sarah, Sarah this is Nicole. Pleased to meet you. OK thank you.
:53:34. > :53:39.Shall we grab a cup of tea. But Nicole's attacker has now been
:53:39. > :53:42.released from prison. Something that Sarah is dreading. He still
:53:42. > :53:46.has this power over me in prison, that is the thing that I hate, I
:53:46. > :53:52.hate that he still has this power over me. It wasn't that long ago,
:53:52. > :53:58.it was only a year ago. He doesn't have any control over you, you have
:53:58. > :54:01.put him behind bars. The only reason that I think that people do
:54:01. > :54:05.this is because they are powerless themselves, they want to take power
:54:05. > :54:10.from other people. Obviously they have seen that you are a strong
:54:10. > :54:16.person. Now he is behind bars, you can start to rebuild your life and
:54:16. > :54:23.move forward. You just need to have the best life you can and put your
:54:23. > :54:30.two fingers up, basically. I really admire the defiance and
:54:30. > :54:34.determination that Nicole and Sarah have. Rape or sexual assault is one
:54:34. > :54:39.of the most henous crimes out there, it is one of the most horrific
:54:39. > :54:42.things that can happen to a person. But having met Sarah and Nicole, it
:54:43. > :54:46.shows me they have regained that power, and they have moved on with
:54:46. > :54:52.their life, in such an incredible and admirable way, that they are
:54:52. > :54:56.helping other people going through the same thing. I just, it is just
:54:56. > :55:05.amazing. I don't really know what the word for it is, I'm struggling
:55:05. > :55:09.to find it. I just think, wow. For all the bravery and strength of
:55:09. > :55:13.the survivors that I have met, it is pretty clear that women have an
:55:13. > :55:21.incredibly tough time going through the system here in the UK. Even the
:55:21. > :55:25.women who have seen their rapists go to prison. And our society's
:55:25. > :55:32.attitudes to rape and its victims are a huge part of what makes it so
:55:32. > :55:35.difficult. Rape is still a taboo subject, but
:55:35. > :55:41.the fact is it is happening every single day, we need to start
:55:41. > :55:44.talking about it. Victims shouldn't feel like they are to blame or in