Sexual history evidence [Policy briefing]

Court research shows that a complainant’s sexual history is regularly brought up in rape trials, despite claims that such evidence is rare. This contradicts Government rhetoric about placing victims at the heart of criminal justice because rape complainants feel that they, not the defendant, are on trial. A new study shows that existing legislation is ineffective because sexual history is regularly justified as ‘rebutting the prosecution case’. Judges are also denied proper scrutiny of applications because they are agreed by both barristers in advance. A number of reforms are now essential to adequately protect complainants, as set out at the end of this briefing.