On the 3rd of December 2025, the government announced a set of reforms that, if properly enacted, will make trials a safer, fairer space for rape victims, and help them access the justice that is their due.
Working in partnership with multiple charities, feminist organisations, and experts, the reforms will target the atmosphere in a courtroom that can often become hostile towards rape victims. The Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) have pointed out how cross examinations often attempt to persuade juries that the victim is a liar, skewing the narrative in favour of the accused. The victim’s story is often further discredited by inferring a history of previous allegations against others or that they are motivated by seeking compensation from the Government’s scheme for victims of violent crime.
The reforms focus on three main areas:
- Raising the admissibility threshold for revealing the victim’s sexual history and history of past abuse to prevent unfair and unrelated cross-examination of past incidents. According to the government’s website, “this will simplify legislation already in place and require that judges consider that the use of sexual history as evidence may perpetuate rape myths”.
- Allow the accused’s previous convictions of domestic abuse to be used as evidence of ‘bad character’ in domestic abuse-related rape trials, and thereby increase the conviction rates of serial abusers.
- Stop the accusal of victims in court that the rape allegations are motivated by money if the only evidence of this is a legitimate application for Criminal Injuries Compensation.
The CWJ have been calling for these proposals to be enacted since 2023, when they made their original submission to the Law Commission. EVAW (End Violence Against Women) were also involved in the development of the reforms, explaining that these changes represent the hard work of their ‘Bad Experiences Not Bad Character’ campaign. They stated “We are pleased to see government’s intention to prevent survivors having unrelated trauma used against them inappropriately in court”.
Indeed, these reforms hopefully point to the start of sorely needed changes so that women will be taken seriously as equal members of a democratic and civilised society. Facing down the perpetrator of your trauma requires bravery and courage, and this incredibly difficult task should not be made harder by re-traumatising practices. By battling these prejudices in the court room, we will hopefully start to see wider social change in how we respond to rape victims, and their trauma.
A study carried out by the former Victims’ Commissioner found that, in 2024, nearly 60% of victims overall believed they couldn’t get justice. And for every one of those victims who feel unable to seek justice, a perpetrator is not being caught or punished. This issue isn’t just about getting victims their justice, but also about restoring the belief that justice exists, and can be enacted.
These reforms form part of the government’s Plan for Change, aiming to stand up for victims and halve violence against women and girls in a decade. This news comes just after the government’s confirmation of the biggest investment in victim support services to date. £550 million has been earmarked for the next three years to provide victims with the vital access to support and advice. Whilst incredibly overdue, this action marks a potential turning point for the courts, and for how we collectively treat rape.