On many occasions, without success, I have written to the Guardian when the lamentably low prosecution and conviction rate for rape and similar offences are reported. The adversarial system before a jury where “beyond reasonable doubt” is the standard of proof required is biased against victims. Your report (Weinstein rape trial turns jury selection into a performance, 18 January) demonstrates further concerns. It is time the whole system for investigating, prosecuting and convicting in both child and adult abuse and rape cases is overhauled in this country (and elsewhere) where decisions of guilt and innocence are made largely by laypeople with no experience of the way abusers work.
We need to shed the notion that the British system is the best in the world and look seriously at how people can be effectively supported and protected.
Roy Grimwood
Market Drayton, North Shropshire
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