(Gareth Fuller/PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)Rape victims are having their trauma exploited by “savvy” defence lawyers to undermine their testimony and thwart the chances of convictions, one of the Met’s most senior officers has warned MPs.
Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe said that defence teams were “wilfully” misrepresenting victims’ trauma as a “lack of credibility”.
She added that it was sometimes easier for a jury “to believe a perpetrator who looks smart in the dock” than a traumatised victim and that a new approach was needed in the justice system to ensure that the impact of rape was understood.
“In cases where there is some existing relationship or a long term abusive relationship or just a recent acquaintance it is far too easy for a savvy defence team to pick holes in a victim’s account and to wilfully misinterpret a normal manifestation of trauma as a lack of credibility,” she told the Commons home affairs select committee.
Her comments will prompt fresh debate about whether victims are treated fairly by defence barristers and jurors recognise how trauma can affect the way that a victim reports, recalls and testifies about an offence.
