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To: Liz Truss, secretary of State for Justice/ Lord Chancellor
Change the law - protect rape victims
Amend Section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (1999) to prevent evidence concerning the complainant's previous sexual history being used.
Why is this important?
As a number of recent cases have shown, the provision at present, although meant as an exceptional exercise, is being routinely abused by defence lawyers keen to tarnish the reputation of the complainant, effectively arguing that, the greater number of consensual sexual encounters s/he engages in, the less possibility there is of s/he being raped.
The constant misuse of the provision is resulting in many miscarriages of justice, and, more importantly, is creating the impression among many victims of sexual assault that pursuit of justice will not only prove fruitless but further victimise and humiliate them.
