You may have read Miranda Sawyer's investigation into the way in which the British justice system fails rape victims. You may also have read some of the accompanying commentary.
In which case, we hope you also signed the petition. The Observer in conjunction with Glamour magazine, is calling for the following social and legal changes:
Investment is urgently needed to train dedicated rape prosecutors to cross-examine, collate the facts and deal with different types of rape cases - expertise that would help to drive up conviction rates.
We need a national 24-hour rape phoneline with operators offering practical advice about where a victim can go for support and how to report a rape.
Every major city across the UK needs a Sexual Assault Referrral Centre. So far there are only 13 - three of those are in London. If a rape victim lives outside one of these cities there is nowhere for her to go to be properly examined and to receive advice and counselling.
The Government needs to raise awareness with a national rape campaign.Victims must be encouraged to speak out and potential rapists need to be made aware that rape is a serious crime, that they will be prosectuted and, if convicted, face heavy jail sentences.
Simple enough. So sign the petition.
An apology to readers of the newspaper who wanted to comment on this campaign on Sunday. We should have posted something on the blog then. We didn't. Sorry.
